t LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. # 

{UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.* 



FOOD FOR THE LAMBS: 

2/ 



SERMONS FOR CHILDREN. 



REV. ALEXANDER McLEAN, 

OF BUFFALO, N. Y. 



1 Feed My Lambs.' 



NEWYOEK: 

N". TIBBALS & CO. 
No. 37 PARK ROW. 

1868, 



^ 
V ^ 



A^>, 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by 
N. Tibbals & Co., in the Clerk's Office of the District Conrt 
of the United States, for the Southern District of New York. 



CONTENTS. 



Tag<\ 

I. THE SHEPHERD AND HIS LAMBS 5 

II. GOOD AND BAD WORDS 25 

III. ROYAL CHILDREN 43 

IV. SEEKING THE LOST GO 

V. THE LITTLE JEWISH MAID 79 

YI. THE SNOW SERMON 98 

VII. THE LITTLE FOX HUNTERS 11G 

VIII. HOW TO PRAY. 134 

IX. THE GLORIOUS VICTORY 157 

X. THE PARTING PROMISE 17G 



CIjc j%pj)xrb antr fps Pamirs. 



Isaiah xl. 11. "He shall gather the lambs with His 
aj-ms, and cany them in His bosom.* 

^T is almost spring, children — almost 
spring. Cold winter will soon be gone. 
The sun, when it gets a chance to show 
itself through the clouds, seems to laugh, 
as if it were saying to itself: "I will 
soon melt the icy fetters upon the little 
brooks, and make them dance along to theii 
own music. I will soon change the bare 
brown fields into green meadows, and make 
the flowers which have been so long buried 
peep forth. I will soon chase away the dark 
clouds which now hide my face, and call the 
poor, sick child from his bed, to enjoy raj 

Ad 



TH E SHErilERD 

warmth, and those who are in health, to enjoy 
my light." Yes, spring-time is coming. In 
a few weeks it will be here, in all its glory. 
Opening its lap, it will strew the earth with 
verdure, flowers and blossoms ; and with its 
sweet voice, call upon all to praise the Lord 
for His goodness, who sendeth us the seasons 
at the appointed time. 

But I think I see some of these little girls 
looking at me with wondering eyes, as if they 
would like to ask what this has to do with my 
text; for children know just as well as grown- 
up people, that a sermon should be all about 
the text, and there is not the first thing said 
about spring here. 

Let us read it again and see. " He shall 
gather the lambs with His arms, and carry 
them in His bosom." 'Not a single word 
about spring, you see. But let me ask you 
when do you see the lambs ? Not in cold 
winter, when the ground is covered with 
snow, and the frosty winds whistle around our 
dwellings. They come, like the birds, with 
the flowers. You would laugh at a painter 
who should make a picture of winter — every 



AND HIS LAMBS. 7 

tiling white with snow — and should add to it 
lambs, gamboling in the snow-covered fields. 
Yon wonld say at once that he had made a 
mistake — that if he wished to make lambs, he 
should paint green fields, bright with sun- 
shine. This is right. Now, children, I think 
that our text is a very beautiful picture of 
spring : a picture not made of colors, but of 
words : a picture not seen by the eye, but by 
the mind. I know that children love pic- 
tures. Come, then, and look at this one with 
me. It is the picture of a far-off country — a 
beautiful country. It has high mountains 
and wide valleys. It has springs and foun- 
tains of water, shaded by cool palm-trees. 
How green the pastures look ; how pretty are 
the roses of Sharon, and those sweet lilies of 
the valley. How much brighter and bluer 
the sky is than ours. Those white, fleecy 
clouds which are chasing each other, appear 
so pure, that they might be mistaken for the 
downy wings of infant angels, at play. Now 
I think I can hear the sound of music — simple 
music, but sweet, as if a shepherd was near, 
piping upon his reed. And so it is. Yonder 



8 THE SHEF HEED 

is his flock, resting in the shade, while he is 
resting under the majestic palm-tree. The 
sheep are resting, but the lambs, like a troop 
of merry children, are playing, as if the day 
was too short for their sports. You can see 
that the shepherd is good and kind, for those 
lambs, so tender and timid, are not afraid of 
him. One tiny lamb, a wee, weak thing, is 
sleeping on his bosom. 

This is the picture which we have in the 
text ; is it not a beautiful one ? If I could I 
would paint it so that you could look upon it 
whenever you chose ; so that, by looking upon 
the picture, you would always think of this 
text. For I consider it one of the most sweet 
and precious in the whole Bible. If I can 
only make you understand and love it, I know 
that it will not only make you wiser, but also 
happier, all the rest of your life. For then 
you would be able to say, like that little shep- 
herd boy, who became a great king : " The 
Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want." You 
need not wait till you are grown up, for this 
— for the Shepherd that is spoken of here, has 
lambs as well as sheep in His great flock. 



AND HIS LAMES. 9 

Indeed He does not mention the sheep at all 
here, only the lambs. And by the lambs are 
meant the little ones — children, no matter 
how young they may be. This then is really 
a text for children, and surely if there are 
texts for children in the Bible, there should 
be sermons for children, so simple that they 
can understand them. 

I wish you to remember, then, that this is your 
text — to remember it, after you have forgotten 
all that I may say about it, in trying to make 
it plain. I like to give my sermons a name ; 
I will tell you what I have called this : " The 
Shepherd and His Lambs." From what I 
have said already, you know that I am not 
going to talk to you about flocks and herds — 
nor yet about Abraham, who was a shepherd 
— nor Jacob with his smooth hands and soft 
voice — nor yet about the shepherd boy, who 
killed the lion and the bear, when they came 
to steal his sheep — nor even about those shep- 
herds who were watching their flocks by 
night, whom the angels told that the Saviour 
was born. This might be interesting to you. 
But the Shepherd I will tell tell you about is 



10 TIIE SHEPHERD 

a still more interesting subject. And that 
you may remember what I shall say, I will 
divide it into three parts. First I will tell 
you — 

I. Y/lx) the Good Shepherd is, and why He 
calls himself by this name. Secondly — 

II. Who are His lambs, and why He calls 
them by that name. And thirdly — 

III. How kindly He cares for them. 
First, then, I am to tell you — 

I. Who is the Good Shepherd, and why He 
calls Himself by this name. 

I see that Charlie wishes to answer, "I 
know, sir, it is Christ ; for He said, I am the 
Good Shepherd." But Janie there, knows 
that the whole Bible was not written at once, 
and looks as if she wanted to tell me, that it 
could not be Christ, because He had not come 
into the world, when Isaiah was the prophet 
of the Lord. Now it is true that this verse 
was written six hundred and ninety years 
before the shepherds on the plains of Bethle- 
hem were told by the angels, that Christ wa3 
born. Many years before Christ came, Isaiah 
died, and his body had become dust, in the 



AX D HIS LAMBS. 11 

tomb of his fathers. And some of yon may 
ask, II ow could he know any thing about 
Christ? If you look in your Bibles, you will 
see, that the part of it, in which the text is 
found, is called, " The book of the prophet 
Isaiah." But what is a prophet? If I could 
tell you, where every one of you would be, 
and what you would be doing, ten or twenty 
years hence, I would be a prophet. But who 
can do this, unless God tells them ? ISTo one, 
not even the wisest man that ever lived. 
Why children, we cannot tell even what shall 
be on the morrow, much less what shall be 
ten, twenty, or a hundred years after this. 
All we know is, that before a hundred years 
shall pass away, we shall all be sleeping in 
our graves, and other children shall fill your 
places, who neither know nor care any thing 
about us. Perhaps they may go to the grave- 
yard where we are sleeping, look at the 
stones, which have become black by years, 
and try to spell out our names. Or they may 
look into the book, which contains your 
names, when the ink has become pale, and the 
paper yellow with age, and merely sav, See, 



12 THE SHEPHERD 

here are the names of the children, who came 
to this Sabbath school, a hundred years ago. 

But Isaiah could tell a great many things 
which were to come to pass after he was 
dead. Why? Because God told him, and 
made him write them in a book, and it is 
from this book, more than two thousand years 
old, that we have read the text. And it has 
all come to pass, just as he wrote it. When 
we read some parts of his book, it seems, as if 
he must have lived in the days of Christ. He 
tells about His wonderful birth, and how the 
wicked Jews would treat Him. He speaks 
about His sufferings and death, as if he had 
been one of the disciples who watched with 
Him in the garden, and beheld His suffering 
upon the cross. And then to think that he 
could say, " He shall gather the lambs with 
His arms, and carry them in His bosom," just 
as if he had heard Christ say, " Suffer the lit- 
tle children to come unto me, and forbid them 
not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.'" 
So, Charlie, you are right when you say that 
Jesus is the Good Shepherd. I need not stop 
to ask you who He was. You have been too 



AND HIS LAMBS. 13 

well taught, both at home, and in the Sabbath 
School, to need to be told this. The youngest 
of you can tell me all about the holy child 
Jesus. "What I wish to explain to you, at 
this time, is, why Christ calls Himself the 
Good Shepherd. And first — 

1. As a shepherd knows every lamb in his 
flock, so Christ knows all the children. 

There was a man who travelled in Palestine 
— the land in which Jesus was born — who has 
told us that he saw a shepherd, watching over 
his flock. To the man, the lambs looked all 
alike. He could hardly tell one from another. 
But the shepherd knew them, every one ; and 
could call them all by their names, and as he 
called them they would come to him. Now, 
children, this is the way with Christ. He 
knows every one of you. For although He is 
now in Heaven, yet His all-seeing eye is upon 
earth. He knows you, and can call you all 
by name. This is very wonderful indeed ; I 
wish we all thought about it, far more than 
we do. The Good Shepherd knows you, just 
as well as if you were the only lamb in His 
flock. Your name is written in His book. 



14 THE SHEPHERD 

When, therefore, you read, "I am the Good 
Shepherd," remember, children, that He calls 
Himself by this name, that you may know 
and feel, that He is acquainted with you. 
But again : 

2. As a shepherd watches over his flock, 
and takes care of them, so Christ watches 
over and takes care of you. 

You know that it is the duty of a shepherd 
to feed his flock, to lead them in green pas- 
tures, beside the still waters. He must see 
that there is something for every lamb ; not 
one of them must sutler. Now, it is just in 
this way that Christ has been taking care of 
us. He has supplied all your wants. We are 
all apt to forget, when we sit down to the 
table, spread with God's mercies, that it is 
just as much furnished by Christ, as if He 
came to us, morning, noon and night, with 
the food which we need, or sent a raven to 
feed us, as he did the prophet, at the brook 
Kedron. And if we can but say, The Lord is 
my Shepherd, we may also add, I shall not 
want. When you grow older, you will find, 
children, that a great many are very much 



AXD II IS LAMBS. 15 

troubled about what they shall eat, and what 
they shall xlrink, and wherewithal iht^ sha !: - 
be clothed. But if you are Christ's lam.;., 
you need never fear. You may say — He wul 
provide. 

Let me tell you a story here, to show you 
how Christ takes care of His own people. 

Not many years ago, there was a very good 
but very poor minister, thrown out of employ 
ment. The people did not want him to 
preach for them any more, because he insisted 
on telling them their duty. Soon, all that he 
had in the world was gone, and yet he did 
not fear but that something would be pro- 
vided for him. The last meal that was in the 
house was eaten. His children had for the 
first time to go to bed supperless. It pained 
him very much to hear their cries. What 
could he do ? Nothing but pray, spreading 
before God his wants. Thus he spent the 
whole night. The morning at last dawned. 
He told his wife to spread the table for break- 
fast, just as usual, and told her not to be 
afraid — the Lord would provide for them, and 
their little ones. Soon a knock was heard at 



16 THE SHE P H EED 

the door; they opened it, when a letter was 
handed to him, with these words, "From a 
friend." He opened it, and found that it con- 
tained ten dollars. Afterwards he learned 
'that a gentleman in the neighborhood had 
passed his house that cold winter morning,' 
and the thought came into his mind that the 
poor minister might he in want of fuel, and 
he went home and sent his servant with that 
welcome note. 

Now, some would say, that this only hap- 
pened so. But I would rather believe that 
this was the way which the Good Shepherd 
took, to supply the wants of one of His ser- 
vants. If He could send the ravens to feed 
Elijah, why can we not believe that He put 
this thought into the heart of one of His ser- 
vants ? I tell you, children, if you wish to be 
happy in this world, you must become Chris- 
tians, and then you need feel none of those 
fears which trouble other men. For as a 
shepherd feeds his flock, so does the Lord pro- 
vide for the wants of all His lambs. 

But another reason why Christ calls Him- 
self the Good Shepherd : 



AND HIS LAMBS. 17 

3. Because He defends His lambs from all 
danger. 

You know that lambs cannot defend them- 
selves — the wolf might come and kill them : 
neither can we, for we are weak, timid things. 
But when Christ's arms are round about us, 
no danger can befall us. You have some- 
times been afraid in a stormy night, when the 
winds were whistling around your dwellings, 
rattling the casements, and moaning as if 
there was a spirit in the storm. And you 
have begged your mother to sit by you, till 
you fell asleep. "When she was near, you felt 
no danger. Now, although Christ is in 
heaven, His arms are around all His children. 
When you say, "Now I lay me down to 
sleep," committing yourself to His care, you 
may go to rest quietly, feeling that no evil 
can come nigh you. The wind may blow, 
' but He holds it in His hands. The clouds 
may hide all the stars, but His eye sees you, 
through all the darkness. Oh, it is blessed to 
know that Christ calls Himself our Shepherd, 
for now we shall want for nothing, and need 
fear nothing. For Christ knows us all, and 



18 THE SHEPHERD 

watches over ns all, by day and by night. 
But now I must hasten to tell you in the sec- 
ond place : 

II. Who are Christ's lambs, and why He 
calls them by this name. 

It is a very important question for each of 
you, children, to ask yourselves, Am I one 
of Christ's lambs? Is He my Shepherd? 
And now I will tell you how you can know, 
and if you are not, how you can become a 
lamb in His flock. If you love Christ, and 
try to serve Him, then you are one of His 
lambs ; but if you do not love and serve Him, 
you are not. I wish it was so that every child 
was one of Christ's lambs, but they are not, 
for only a very few of them truly love Him. 
They think that they have nothing to do with 
Christ till they grow old, but this is a sad 
mistake. They should all love Him now, and 
I will tell you how to begin. 

You must go to Him in prayer, for you| 
know He hears the prayers of children. And 
say to Him, " Dear Jesus, I am a weak and 
sinful child, but I would be one of the lambs . 
of Thy flock. Teach me to love Thee, Thou 



AND HIS LAMES. i'J 

Good Shepherd, who didst say, ' Suffer the 
little children to come unto Me, and forbid 
them not.' Blot out my sins with Thy blood, 
and make me Thine." If you do this, in earn- 
est, every day, He will say, You are Mine, I 
have taken you into My fold. He will not 
speak this into your ear, but into your heart, 
and you will feel it there. Now let me tell 
you some of the reasons why He calls good 
children His lambs. And first : 

1. Because He loves them very much. 

Yon have heard a mother call her child a lit- 
tle lamb. And you knew what she meant — that 
she was only saying how much she loved her 
darling. E"ow, Christ calls the children whom 
He loves His lambs, because they are so dear 
to Him. Why, children, He shed His blood 
for you. You have read the story of His suf- 
ferings — how he left heaven, and came to 
earth, and suffered and died upon the cross. 
But did you ever feel that He did all this for 
you % It was for you He suffered — for you He 
died. I wish you would read that chapter 
which tells us all about the sufferings of 
Christ, and at every verse say to yourself, All 



20 THE SHEPHERD 

this was for me, He so loved me, and then 
you will know why Christ ealls yon His lambs. 
He laid down His life for you. 

But again, Christ calls good children His 
lambs because : 

2. They are so prone to wander away from 
Him. Lambs, you know, are apt to wander 
away, but they do not know how to find their 
way back. A dog will find its way home, 
although you should take it off a great many 
miles, while a lamb would never find its way 
back. And in this respect, children are very 
much like lambs. 

Said a little boy to his mother, " O, dear, 
there is no use trying to be good ; before I 
know it, I am doing something naughty, so 
that I am afraid that I shall never be a good 
boy." But his mother said, " Try again, and not 
only try, but ask Christ to keep you good." 
And, children, this is the only way. I knew 
a man who was wicked, but wished to do bet- 
ter. He made a great many good resolutions 
— he would not swear any more, he would not 
get into a passion any more — but soon he for- 
got his good resolutions, and was just as wick- 



AND HIS LAMBS. 21 

ed as ever. But at last lie became a Chris- 
tian, and when lie was tempted to do wrong, 
lie looked to Christ for help, and became bet- 
ter and better, every day. Now, children, 
this is the only way that you can become 
really good. Look to Christ, as the Good 
Shepherd, for help. Say to Him, I am a poor 
little lamb, so ready to wander away from 
Thee — take me and guide me. And when- 
ever you do wrong, cry to Him, I am straying 
from Thee, keep me for Thy mercy's sake. 
But again : 

3. Children are like lambs because they 
cannot defend themselves. 

You know that the Hon in some countries, 
often attacks the tender lambs, seizes them and 
carries them off as his prey ; poor things, they 
can do nothing to save themselves. The Bible 
tells us of a roaring lion, who goeth about seek- 
ing whom he may devour. That lion is the 
wicked one. Now, if you had to defend your- 
self, you would surely be overcome by him. 
But the Good Shepherd stands and defends 
you. He says to Satan, " Touch them not — 
they are Mine, My arm is round about them ;" 



22 THE SHEPHERD 

and Satan leaves you. He cannot harm you 
when you are Christ's. But now I have to tell 
you in the third place : 

III. How Christ gathers His lamb3 with 
His arms, and carries them in His bosom. 

You know, children, that there is such a 
thing as death in this world. The body be- 
comes cold and motionless, and although we 
love it ever so much, we are glad to bury it 
in the cold ground, out of our sight. But 
you know, also, that we have souls as well as 
bodies, and the soul cannot die. Where does 
it go when it leaves the body ? I will tell 
you what we are told in the Word of God 
about it. The soul goes to the fold of Christ, 
and that is heaven. It is there that He gath- 
ers them with His arms. O, what hosts of 
children are there. Around the throne of 
God, on high, thousands of children stand. 
But you know there is a very dark valley be- 
tween us and that glorious fold. It is called 
the valley of the shadow of death. And down 
into that dark valley the Good Shepherd 
comes to meet us. Father, mother, brothers, 
sisters, cannot go with us there. But Christ 



AND HIS LAMBS. 23 

comes to meet His little lambs, and He takes 
them in His bosom, and carries tliem safely 
through, and then away np to His glorious 
home. There He leads them and feeds them, 
forever more. 

Let me tell you about a little lamb that be- 
longed to Christ's fold. His name was Wil- 
lie. He was a sweet, pretty child, too good 
for this cold, dark world. He was always 
asking to be told stories about the angels. 
One day, when a good lady was talking to 
him about them, he said, " I should like to 
go to the angels." A few days after this he 
was taken sick, and the fever was so high 
that he was sometimes delirious. But he 
would often call out, " Dear mama, I am go- 
ing to the angels." One pleasant afternoon 
he called his father and mother to his bed- 
side, and said, " Good-by, good-by, I am go- 
ing to the angels." His mother took his 
hand, and said, " Dear Willie, stay with us." 
But he smiled sweetty, and said, " The angels 
call me, good-by," and fell asleep, never to 
waken upon earth. It was another lamb 
Sfiilieml to the Saviour's fold. 



24 THE SHEPHEED AND HIS LAMBS. 

O, who does not desire to Lave Christ foi 
their Shepherd ? Who does not wish to be 
one of His lambs ? And then, after a few 
short years in this world, to be borne in His 
bosom to Heaven. 



"m 



6000 mxa §ab lEorbs. 



Proverbs xxv. 11. "A word fitly spoken, is like 
apples of gold in pictures of silver." ' 

fDO not know any tiling in this world that 
sounds quite so sweetly as the praises of 
God, when sung by children. It is 
f sweeter melody thsn the songs of the 
feathered tribes, even when in grand 
concert, just at the dawn of morning, 
they hail the return of spring. It is sweeter 
melody than the rippling of waters, as they 
dance along to their own music, throwing 
back the sunbeams from their ripples. Be- 
cause neither the birds of the air, nor all the 
brooks, which like silver threads woven to- 
gether, make the great rivers, know whose 



2G GOOD AND BAD WORDS 

praises they are chanting in ceaseless song, 
while children know it is God, their Maker, 
whom they praise. 

I wonder if there are any children who do 
not love to sing, or who cannot learn to sing? 
Yes, there are, and I would like to introduce 
you to some of them, to-day. Would you 
like to visit a school with me — a Sabbath 
School — where there is no noise, where not a 
single word is spoken from the opening to 
the close, where they never have any singing, 
and even when they pray, not one word is 
spoken ? It is to such a school I would take 
you now. There is one such school in almost 
all our large cities. Here is one, in that 
great brick building. Can you read those 
big letters up there, carved in stone? — "Home 
for Leaf Mutes." Come up this flight of 
stairs — here is the door, marked "School 
Room." 

But, hark ! you do not hear any noise, no, 
/lot a single whisper. Perhaps it is not their 
hour for school. Let us open the door, and 
look in. Why, what a company of children ! 
Count them — one hundred, one hundred and 



GOOD AND BAD WO EDS. 27 

fifty, two hundred, two hundred and thirty- 
five. A large school, and how attentive they 
are. Not one of them has turned round to 
look, when the door was opened ; there has 
not even been a single sly glance. Let me 
tell you the reason. These children have 
never heard a sound, and never will. They 
have never lisped a single word, and they 
never will, unless Jesus should unloose their 
tongues. They are the children of silence, 
Dr you will perhaps understand me better, if 
I call them the deaf and dumb. They can- 
not talk, they cannot hear you when you 
speak to them. 

This is very sad, children, for there are 
thousands of these poor, unfortunate ones, in 
our country. Just think ot that little blue- 
eyed girl, with hair almost like a sunbeam, 
beautiful as a picture, who never lisped that 
sweet word mother^ and never heard a moth- 
er's voice saying, my child. Think oi that 
bright-looking boy, with laughter in his eyes, 
whose face tells so plainly of all the emotions 
of his soul, and yet his dumb lips never said, 
my father, his deaf ears never heard a father's 



2S GOOD AND BAD WORDS, 

or mother's voice saying, my son. They 
never could tell of a want, they never could 
make a request, in words. When sad, they 
can weep, but cannot tell the cause of their 
grief. When happy, they can smile, but no 
peals of merry laughter can break from their 
lips, nor can they tell in words, the cause of 
their gladness. 

But why have I commenced this sermon by 
telling you about deaf and dumb children. 
Read the text again, and you may perhaps be 
able to guess. " A word fitly spoken, is like 
apples of gold in pictures of silver " — or rather, 
in a basket of silver. That is, it is a very- 
beautiful thing to see a nicely-carved basket 
of polished silver, filled with golden apples ; 
and a word fitly spoken, that is, a good word, 
spoken at the right time, is just as beautiful 
as that, and as precious, too. We can all 
speak. God has not sealed our lips as He has 
the lips of those poor mutes that I have told 
you about. And I hope you will all thank 
God to-day for the gift of speech. 

Tli ere is one advantage which deaf and 
dumb boys and girls have, and that is, they 



GOOD AND BAD WOBDS, 29 

have never spoken and never heard, a wicked 
word. 

The wise man has told us what a good werd 
is like, but who can tell us what even one 
wicked word resembles. I cannot. It is such 
a horrible, monstrous thing, that I cannot find 
any thing to compare with it. Our lips were 
made to praise God, and I wish to show you 
to-day, that it is a great and good gift which 
He has given us — the gift of speech — that is, 
the power to talk. We can improve it, and 
by improving it, do much good ; we can 
abuse it, and by abusing it, do much evil. 

I will be very plain and simple, so that 
none of you will be able to say, when you go 
home, I could not understand the sermon. I 
will not confine myself to the text ; if I did I 
could only speak about good words, for I have 
something to say about bad tuords, also. This 
will be a sermon on the use of the tongue; 
perhaps it will be plainer to say, on good and 
bad words. I will tell you first, about 

I. Good words, and how beautiful they are. 

Let us see if we can tell what a word is. It 
seems to be a very simple thing, a word — it 



SO GOOD AND BAD WORDS. 

is a sound, and nothing more. But it is far 
more than an articulate sound. Take one 
word, God, and you see that these three let- 
ters spell the name of the greatest and best 
Being in the whole universe. 

Take another word — Jesus. When we hear 
that word, we all know that it means that 
great and glorious Being, who came into the 
world to die for sinners, and who now lives 
in heaven, at God's right hand. 

Take another word — mother. That is no 
empty sound. It stands for the one whom 
you love, or should love, the best in the whole 
world. She it was who watched over you 
with such unceasing care, in sickness and in 
health. That word mother, will awaken 
sweet memories in your hearts, when they be- 
gin to grow cold and hard. At the mention 
of that name you will be children again, and 
live over the long forgotten past. 

There is so much, then, in a word, although 
it is only a sound which is gone as quickly as 
it is uttered. The power to utter words, and 
really know what they mean, is one of the 
noblest gifts which God has bestowed upon 



GOOD AND BAD WORDS. 31 

man. To use words well, gives any man an 
exalted position in this world. We call such 
an one an orator, and crowds flock to hear 
him speak. By words lie can move them to 
tears or laughter, make them glad or sad, at 
his will. 

One little insignificant man, with shaven 
crown, and coarse monk's dress, with nothing 
"but words, did more than kings or emperors 
could do. He raised armies, through all Eu- 
rope, and sent them to fight battles in a dis- 
tant land. His name was Peter the Hermit. 
Do you understand now, what words are, 
and the power which they have over us. 
They are not empty sounds, but the embodi- 
ment of our thoughts. 

You think, but I cannot tell what your 
thoughts are, till you put them in' words, then 
your thoughts are not your own any longer ; 
they belong to me as well as to you. 

A great many years ago, when people wish- 
ed to send secret messages, they wrote them 
on paper with invisible ink. The person who 
received them held the paper to the fire, and 
what looked a few moments before like - 



32 GOOD AND BAD WOED8, 

sbset of white paper, was soon a letter, cover 
ed with words. Now your thoughts, before 
they are expressed in words, are to me and 
every body else, like that sheet of paper be- 
fore it was held to the fire, invisible, but as 
soon as they are spoken, they are like the 
w T ords on the paper; after they have been 
brought out by the heat, we can know them. 

But another thing about words ; when once 
they are spoken, they can never be recalled. 

In one of the salt mines in Europe, deep 
down under the earth, there is a lake which 
no breath of air ever disturbs. It is smooth 
as glass. Around it are clefts of crystalized 
salt, formed by God into all sorts of fantastic 
shapes. Go out in the small boat, which is 
moored at the side, into the middle of this 
lake. Whisper one word, and from every 
cliff it comes back like thunder. You are 
startled at hearing your own voice, as if a 
thousand unseen beings were mimicing you. 
And it takes a long time before the echo of 
that whispered word dies out. 

Now, w T e do not hear the words which we 
speak, repeated in echoes, but nevertheless, 



GOOD AND BAD WORDS. 33 

children, it is true, that a word once spoken, 
be it good or had, echoes on through the 
world, forever and ever. You cannot stop it. 

The words which I have spoken to-day, and 
which I am now speaking, will never die. 
They echo from the very dome of heaven, and 
in a few years, when I shall stand before the 
judgment-seat of Christ, although both you 
and I may have forgotten them, I will hear 
them as distinctly as if they were spoken at 
that moment, and I shall be happy or sorrow- 
fid according as they have been good or bad 
words. 

But it is time that I told you about some 
of the kinds of good words which are so beau- 
tiful. And the first wdiich. I shall mention, 
are — 

1. Kind words. 

A young man was one Sabbath evening 
walking through the common of a great city. 
His face was bloated, and his clothes soiled. 
He was a pitiable looking object. Few would 
have cared to speak to him. For it was just 
as plain as it could be that he was a drunkard, 
and was fast going down to a drunkard's grave. 



34 GOOD AND BAD WO EDS. 

An old man was walking through the com- 
mon, but not to idle away an hour of the holy 
time God has given us. He was intent on 
doing good, and had gone forth that calm 
Sabbath evening, to look up some poor out- 
cast whom he might help. Chance — no, Pro- 
vidence brought these two together. Some 
hind words fell from the old man's lips. They 
sounded strangely to the poor drunkard. It 
was many years since he had heard such 
words, and they reached to his very heart. 
It was an easy matter for the old man, then, 
to persuade him to accompany him to the 
house of God, to hear a temperance lecture. 

lie went, and heard himself described. 
The downward course of him who tampers 
with the intoxicating cup was shown. The 
young man saw his danger, and that very 
night made the resolve that he would forsake 
it forever. 

Years have passed away since that Sabbath. 
The old man has gone to his reward ; but 
the young man is still living a life of useful- 
ness. Through his instrumentality thousands 
have been saved from a drunkard's <rrave. 



GOOD AND BAD WORDS. «^> 

And lie acknowledges that all that he has be- 
come, is dne to the kind words spoken to him 
by that good old man. How easy it is to do 
good, when so much can be accomplished by 
speaking a kind word. Kind words cost 
nothing, and yet they are ahnost as rare in 
this sad world as precious stones. Kind words 
are good words. They are like apples of gold 
in pictures of silver. But again : 
2. Faithful toords, are good words. 
I mean when some one comes and kindly 
tells you your faults, that his words are faith- 
ful. You may always be sure that such an 
one is your friend, while the man who laughs 
at your folly, is your enemy. 

Now, children do not love to be told their 
faults, nor, for that matter, grown-up people 
either. We all wish to have just as good an 
opinion of ourselves as we can, and so, bo- 
cause it makes us feel unpleasantly, when one 
has told us some things that we have done, 
which were wrong, we forget their kindness 
and are apt to be angry with them. But let 
me assure you. children, that the best friend 
you can have in this world, is one who will 



36 GOOD AND BAD WORDS. 

kindly tell you when you do wrong, and help 
you to do right 

A great many years ago there were two lit- 
tle ships launched upon a very long river. 
Each of them contained a little voyager. The 
river was the Hiver of Life, and ran into the 
great Ocean of Eternity. 

These little ones were to make the voyage, 
each one for himself. In this river there are 
a great many rocks which you cannot see. If 
One of these little boats strikes against one of 
these, it is not only badly bruised, but it be- 
comes unmanagable, so that you cannot steer 
it straight. These rocks are called faults, and 
should be avoided. 

JSTow there were sailing in ships just ahead 
of these little ones, two who were much older 
and who undertook to be their guides. One 
was faithful to his task. "Whenever the little 
boat dashed against one of these rocks, his 
friend ahead told him of it, and told him how 
to avoid it in the future. Thus they sailed 
along pleasantly till the great ocean came in 
sight; peacefully they entered it, and soon 
found a haven in the land of Eternal Rest. 



GOOD AND BAD WORDS. ol 

The other did not perform his duty to his 
little charge. When the little voyager struck 
one of these rocks, he told him it was noth- 
ing, and only laughed at him. And thus the 
little boat became unman agable. Before it 
reached the ocean it was just like a log upon 
the water, driven hither and thither. To this 
day it is a tempest-tossed thing. Never will 
the little voyager find a resting place through 
all eternity. 

Let me tell you this in plain words. The 
little boy or girl who has a kind friend to tell 
them their faults, will learn in time to over- 
come them, and at last reach the happy home 
in heaven. The boy or girl whose faults are 
not corrected by kind words, become worse 
and worse, and are lost at .last. 

Think much, then, children, of those who 
tell you your faults. Their words are faith- 
ful and good. But again : 

3. Comforting words are good words. 

This is a sad world, children ; if you live a 
little longer you will find it to be so. A good 
part that man acts in life, who is always ready 
to speak a word of comfort to the sorrowful. 



6^ GOOD AND BAD WORDS. 

A little boy stood one day beside the grave 
of his mother. lie was all alone in the world ; 
his last and only friend was sleeping in that 
grave. He did not know where to go or what 
to do. He thought that no one pitied the 
poor orphan boy. He stood leaning against 
one of the monuments, wishing that he was 
'down there in the silent grave beside his 
mother. 

A good man had entered the place where 
the dead lie sleeping, to meditate upon death 
and eternity. He saw the little boy, with the 
big tears undried on his cheeks, and kindly 
taking him by the hand, asked him the cause 
of his sorrow. " Mother 's dead," said the lit- 
tle boy, " and they have put her in the cold 
ground ; I will never see her again. I have 
no mother, no home ; I wish I could die." 

" Little boy," said the man of God, " I knew 
your mother, and I know where she has gone. 
An angel from God has taken her to His own 
home in heaven, and there she is waiting for 
you." And then he told him how to live, so 
as to get to his mother when he died. 

What a comfort it was to the little fellow. 



GOOD AND BAD WORDS. 6V 

Hope sparkled in his eyes. There was some 
thing to live for now. There was a brigh' 
star shining brightly over him, and whenevei 
he was sad and sorrowful he thought of hi? 
mother waiting for him in heaven. 

That comforting word fixed his destiny for 
time and eternity. The little boy became a 
man. He was a son of consolation to many 
while he lived. He sleeps now beside his 
mother in the old grave-yard, under the yew 
tree, but his spirit has met her's long ago, in 
that house not made with hands, eternal in 
the heavens. 

It is easy to speak such comforting words, 
and thus be a blessing to others. Such, then, 
are some of the words which Solomon says 
are like apples of gold in pictures of silver. 

But now, I must say something about bad- 
words, although children, I must confess that I 
do not like this part of the subject, and would 
pass it by did I not know that they are so very 
common. It is easier to speak a good than a bad 
word, and yet there are more bad words spoken 
than good. I will only mention a few of the 
"iinds which are most common. The first are 
b2 



40 GOOD AND EAD WOED8. 

1. Untrue words. 

They are very mean and contemptible ; be- 
sides they are very wicked. You have all 
heard of the little boy who would not tell a 
lie. I think that was the foundation of his 
greatness. "When he became a man every 
body could trust him, and depend upon what 
he said. And so they entrusted to him this 
great nation. But a boy who does not speak 
the truth — who will trust him when he be- 
comes a man % 

I know that children are sometimes tempted 
to tell a falsehood, because they think that by 
so doing they can conceal some wrong which 
they have done. But this is a mistake. God 
knows it ; the falsehood cannot hide it from 
Him. Just think of having every such wick- 
ed word repeated before the whole world in 
the Day of Judgment. Oh, how those who 
have spoken them will hide their heads for 
shame then ; for all secret things will be re- 
vealed. Then again, there are 

2. Envious words, which are also bad. 

Some people can never bear to see any one 
prospering but themselves, and so they must 



GOOD A^D BAD WORDS. 41 

show their envy by speaking evil of them. It 
is far more honorable to speak words of praise ; 
and if we cannot conscientiously praise any 
one who is spoken of, then keep silence. A 
good rule, and it is a very old one, too, is, 
" Never say any thing about a person who is 
absent that you would not say before their 
face." If this rule was followed, there would 
be far less evil speaking, and far more good 
will among men. 

But now I must mention the very worst 
kind of bad words : 

3. Profane words. 

It is needless for me to tell you how wicked 
such words are, for God has said, " Thou shalt 
riot take My name in vain." To take the 
name of God in vain ! — who can be guilty of 
such wickedness? You have all heard the 
name of God profaned. I must say that I 
' never hear a profane oath but what I feel 
afraid. It seems as though God must avenge 
His own insulted honor. But He for the 
most part keeps back His hand from ven- 
geance. Sometimes, it is true, He strikes the 
swearer dead, with an oath half uttered on 
b3 



42 GOOD AND BAD WORDS. 

his tongue. Never does a profane word sound 
so awful as from the lips of a child. Your 
tongues were given you that you might praise 
the Lord. Oh, do not use them for such a 
wicked purpose as profaning His holy name. 

You see, then, children, that the gift of 
speech is indeed a noble gift. We can speak 
kind words, faithful words, and comforting 
words. But this gift can be perverted. The 
tongue that can praise the Lord may also pro- 
fane His name. The lips that might speak a 
word in season to one who is heavy of heart, 
may speak an envious, malicious, unkind word, 
which will be like plunging a dagger into the 
heart. 

You see, then, that there is need to pray as 
David did, " Set a watch, O Lord, before my 
mouth ; keep the door of my lips." 



JfcrpI CIjHhm 



Judges viii. 18. " Each one resembled the children 
of a king.' 1 ' 

FEW years ago, as some of you chil- 
dren may remember, a boy came from 
England to this country, to see what 
was to be seen in a land where there 
is no king. 

He was attended by a great many 
servants, who were as respectful and attentive 
to him as if he was something more than a 
mortal. Wherever he went, great crowds as- 
sembled to see him. When it was known 
that he was to pass through certain streets, 
every window was thronged with people, anx- 
ious to get a look at him. He was invited 



44 EOYAL CHILDREN. 

nere and there and every where. Sums of 
money which would have supported a dozen 
missionaries for years, were spent to give him 
an entertainment for a night. 

Had you met that boy in the street you 
would only have seen a fair-faced youth, at 
whom you would never have turned to look 
again. Why did they make such a great ado 
about that boy ? It was not for any particu- 
lar regard they had for him, but because if he 
lived for a few years he would be the king oi 
Great Britain. And it was thought to be 
such a great thing to have a real live prince 
in this country, even on a visit, that it was 
really astonishing how people who believe 
that one man is just as good as another, if he 
only behaves as well, should have been so car- 
ried away by one who was by birthright a 
king. 

~No doubt a great many thought it was a 
very fine thing to be the son of a king or 
queen, when they could have such honor: 
paid them ; and perhaps you think so, too 
To be waited upon by the noble and great, 
to have a kingdom for an inheritance — there 



ROYAL CHILDREN. 45 

are very few in this world who would de- 
.-pi it. 

Yet, children, I am going to tell you to-day 
how yon may all become the children of a 
King, and have a crown and kingdom which 
are more precious than if all the nations of 
the earth could he formed into one kingdom, 
and all the crowns of kings and potentates be 
formed into one crown. If you could have 
all these offered you, the crown and kingdom 
which I have to oiler you to-day, would be 
worth far more than them all. 

It is my great desire that you should all be 
not merely like the children of a king, but 
should be really king's children. It would 
not do you much good to resemble the Prince 
of Wales, but to he the Prince of Wales might 
be a very fine thing. I will now tell you how 
you may be the children of a King far greater 
than any king you ever read about in history. 

And first, let me tell you about 

1. The King whose children you may be- 
come. 

There is One, of whom we read in the Bi- 
ble, who is called the King of kings, and 
e5 



46 ROYAL CHILDREN. 

Lord of lords. Yon all know who that mnst 
be. It can he no other than God Himself. 
He says of Himself, I am a great God and a 
great King ; the King of the whole uni- 
verse ; not of this little world of onrs only, 
but of all the worlds which shine above ns. 

Yon have been out some clear, cold night, 
when there was not a single clond to be seen 
in the sky. It was a deep blue, sprinkled all 
over with stars. It seemed as if they were 
almost crowding one upon the other in some 
places, and in others as if they were only a 
hand's breadth apart. They looked very 
small, too, as if they were no larger than good 
sized diamonds. But this is only because you 
are so far from them. 

Some years ago I went with a friend to the 
top of one of the tallest steeples in New York. 
From the dizzy height we looked down upon 
the streets. It was a strange sight. The 
men looked like little boys, and the boys like 
infants. The streets seemed so narrow that 
you could step across them, and the houses any 
thing but like the great tall buildings they were. 
The reason was that we were so far above them 



ROYAL CHILDREN". 47 

This is the reason that the stars look so 
small, because we are so far from them. They 
are millions and millions of miles from this 
world, and are really very great suns and very 
great worlds, and God is King over them all, 
for He made them all. 

You know, children, there was a time when 
there were no worlds, no heavens, and no 
earth. There was only God — Jehovah — Fa- 
ther, Son and Holy Ghost. They said let us 
create, and by a single word They lighted up 
the heavens with suns, and scattered worlds 
all over space. By a word, They created an- 
gels and archangels, and last of all, man him- 
self. And because God is the Creator of all, 
He is King over all. 

A king, you know, must have a kingdom, 
a palace, and a throne. King Solomon dwelt 
in a palace of cedar, and had a throne over- 
laid with pure gold. All Judea was his king- 
dom, and the twelve tribes of Israel his sub- 
jects. His word was law to them ; he had 
life and death in his hands. 

But far greater is the King whose children 
you may become. The house witli many man- 
b6 



48 EOYAL CHILDREN. 

sions is His palace. Let me read yon a de- 
scription of it. "And the building of the 
wall of it was of jasper. And the city was 
pure gold, like unto clear glass. And the 
foundations of the wall of the city were gar- 
nished with all manner of precious stones. 
And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; 
every several gate was of one pearl. And 
the streets of the city were of pure gold." 
"What a beautiful palace that must be — the 
home of the great Kins;. 

God has made this world very beautiful. 
He has hid gold under the mountains, and 
diamonds in secret places, and pearls in the 
depths of the sea. But upon His own pal- 
ace He has lavished all wealth ; every thing 
that is rich and rare, costly and grand, bright 
and beautiful, He has there. 

Then that palace has a throne. It is so 
glorious that when angels approach it to wor- 
ship, they cover their faces with their wings, 
and taking the jeweled crowns from their 
brows cast them in homage at the feet of Him 
who sitteth thereon. O what a great and glo- 
rious King God is ! 



EOTAL CHILDEEK. 49 

That you may have a better idea of regal 
glory, let rne tell you what power belongs to a 
king in eastern countries ; and God, you know, 
has greater power than they, for He is King 
o: kings, and Lord of lords. 

We will go to the palace of Sushan, and 
look at Queen Esther when she goes in to ask 
a favor from the king. She is a Jewess. The 
king has sent forth a decree that on a certain 
day, all her countrymen are to be put to death. 
She is going to beg for their lives, and her 
own. She is very beautiful, and her natural 
beauty is adorned with costly robes and glit- 
tering gems. She has every thing to make 
life attractive. 

To go into the king's presence unbidden, is 
death. Yet she braves the danger, breathing 
a silent prayer to heaven, and " if I perish, I 
perish," upon her pale lips, she passes in, and 
how mute and pallid, yet calm and resolute, 
stands outside the ring of nobles who surround 
the king's throne, to hear her doom. The 
king may be angry, and it will be death to 
her. He may receive her graciously, spare 
her, and grant her petition. 



50 ROYAL CHILDREN. 

Beside him is an iron and a golden sceptre 
If he raises the iron rod she will be instantly 
led forth to execution ; if the golden sceptre, 
she can go boldly np the line of nobles and 
present her petition. Her suspense is of but 
short duration. The golden sceptre is extend- 
ed to her. She hears the blessed words, 
"What wilt thou Queen Esther? and what is 
thy request ? it shall be given thee, even to 
half the kingdom." 

She asks favors for her oppressed country- 
men, and the king is true to his royal word. 
Her requests are granted. Such is the rever- 
ence and awe in which earthly kings are held, 
and such is their great power. 

But our King is still more to be revered. 
It was to His throne that we approached a 
few moments ago, when we addressed Him in 
prayer. It was a golden sceptre that he held 
out to us, and if we asked aright, He will hear 
and answer our prayers. Think of this every 
time you pray, that you approach the throne 
of Him who is the King of kings. A little 
child like you could not get into the presence 
of an earthly monarch to present a petition ; 



ROYAL CHILDREN. 51 

but God invites you to come into His very 
throne room, and there bowing before Him, 
to ask for whatever yon need. You can ask 
nothing so great that He cannot give. You 
can ask nothing too small for Him to regard. 
Your every want can be supplied by this great 
King. 

"Would you not like to be His children ; the 
children of God ? Let me tell you then 
2. How you may become His children. 
This King, the great God, had a Son \ a 
well-beloved Son. He lived with His Father 
through all eternity. He made this world ; 
and we refused to obey and serve God, His 
Father. This was a very great sin, the sin of 
rebellion ; for which we all deserved to die, 
and must assuredly have died had not the Son 
of God said, " I will save them." How do 
you think, children, He did this ? You know 
God is a Spirit ; He has not a body of flesh 
and blood, like ours. He is here, but we can- 
not see Him. 

This reminds me of what a little boy said 
about a poor woman who came to his house 
not Ions: a«;o. His mother asked him if he 



52 ROYAL CHILDREN. 

was not sorry for poor Sarah, she had no body 
in the world to love and care for her — she had 
to live all alone. "No, ma," said he, "she 
has somebody to care for her." " Yes, a Fa- 
ther in heaven," answered his mother. " No, 
but somebody here; she is not alone, for she 
has God to take care of her." That was all. 
true. God does take care of those who love 
Him, and He is ever with them, although we 
cannot see Him, because He has not a body, 
like ours. 

What is true of God is also true respecting 
His Son. So that the first thing He had to 
do when He came to save us was, to take a 
body like ours. You know* He became the 
babe in Bethlehem. That little infant sleep- 
ing in His mother's arms is the Son of God. 
That little boy, who goes up to the temple to 
worship, is the Son of God. That sorrowful 
man, who walks by night on the Sea of Gal- 
ilee, when the waves are rising up like moun- 
tains, is the Son of God. That man who 
stands in Pilate's judgment hall, clothed in 
that tattered purple robe, with that crown of 
thorns upon his brow, is the Son of God. 



ROYAL CEILDKEN. 53 

That poor sufferer, hanging faint and bleeding 
upon the cross (O children do you not pity 
Him ; for not only is He suffering in body, 
but His heart is breaking with sorrow), is the 
Son of God. He became all this to save you. 
It is for you that He is suffering, bleeding, 
dying, and He has sent me to ask you if you 
will have Him for your Saviour. You are a 
poor sinful child, but you can go to Him and 
say, " Lord Jesus, take away my sins. Wash 
me in Thy blood ; fold me in Thy arms ; take 
me to Thy heart." If you go to Him thus, He 
will make you His, and you shall not only be 
saved, but become a child of God. 

It is because Christ is the Son of God, and 
became a child of days, that you who are chil- 
dren may become children of God. He be- 
came one with us when He took upon Him- 
self our nature, and we become one with 
Him when we believe on Him, to the saving 
of our souls ; and so become sons of God. 

I cannot tell you how wonderful this is. 
John, the beloved disciple, when he thought 
about it, exclaimed, " Behold what manner of 
love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that 



54 ROYAL CHILDREN. 

we should be called the sons of God." And 
well might we wonder that such a glorious 
King should adopt us, and make us His chil- 
dren, but it is just as true as it is wonderful. 

Now, to induce you to seek to be His chil- 
dren, I will tell you in the third place : 

3. What will be your portion if you become 
the children of God. 

(1.) If you become the children of God you 
will dwell forever in His presence. 

The children of a king dwell near him ; 
their home is in the palace. Your home will 
be in your Father's house on high. I have 
told you of that palace already. Would you 
not like such a beautiful home % You some- 
times sing : 

"Beautiful Zion that I love, 
Beautiful city built above." 

Do you love it ? "Would you have a mansion 
there? There is one provided for all who 
love God. 

Why, some of you have friends already 
there. Some have a father or mother. Some 
brothers and sisters there. Some who have 



EOTAL CHILDREN". 55 

sat in these seats have entered that house with 
many mansions, and now dwell in the pres- 
ence of God. 

If I have any joy in this world it is, that 
under God, I directed them to seek the Sav- 
iour, and tried to comfort them with the pro- 
mises of His word when God was calling 
them home. For it is through the dark gate- 
way of death that we enter into the glorious 
city. 

Before you enter into the populous part of 
the city of New York, there is a long dark 
tunnel, through which you pass, with only a 
little light coming down from above. All at 
once you come into the light of the city. Its 
thousand lamps, if it be night, suddenly flash 
their light upon you. It is a great change, 
coming out of the darkness into the light. 

Thus it is with the city of our God. The 
dark passage is death. You are soon through 
it, and then you are into the light of that city 
" which has no need of sun, nor moon, nor 
stars, to shine in it, for God Himself doth 
lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.''* 

Oh what joy it would be to meet you all 



5(5 EOYAL CniLDEEN. 

there. To Lave you come to the end of the 
dark valley, just where the darkness begins to 
mingle with the light, to welcome me home. 
Or if God calls me first, what joy would it be 
to come out and meet you, and taking you by 
the hand, lead you to the Saviour, to whom I 
am now trying to lead you. God knows that 
I covet no greater reward than this. It is a 
sad thought to me that you do not seek the 
Saviour. I am so afraid that you will not be- 
come His children, and thus never dwell with 
Him. But again : 

(2.) If you become the children of God, you 
will have a royal guard. 

A king seldom goes far from his palace 
without a company of soldiers to defend him ; 
but the children of God have a more noble 
guard than they. 

There was once a prophet of the Lord, 
whose life was in jeopardy. His servant was 
very much frightened, but the prophet was 
not. He knew that God could protect him, 
but he did not wish his servant to be so trou- 
bled. So he prayed his eyes might be open- 
ed. God answered his prayer. And what 



ROYAL CHILDEEN, 57 

do you think the servant saw ? On the hill 
an exceeding great army encamped, with 
chariots of fire. They were the angels of the 
Lord of hosts, sent on purpose to defend the 
prophet. 

Jusl such a guard every child of God ha r , 
for we are told that angels are ministering 
spirits, sent forth to minister to those who 
shall be the heirs of salvation. They watch 
over us in the darkness of night, when all are 
asleep ; they watch over us by noon-day, so 
that no evil can befall us. Yes, a royal guard 
of angels attends all who are the children of 
the great King. 

(3.) If you become the children of God you 
will have beautiful robes to wear. 

Costly robes were once the mark of royal 
rank. " They that wear soft raiment," said 
Christ, " are in kings ? courts." And God has 
provided for His children garments suitable to 
their high position. 

You know the angel who opened up the 
vision to John, asked, " Who are these array- 
ed in white robes ? and whence came they ?" 
Their robes are those which Christ has driven 



58 ROYAL CHILDREN. 

them — His own spotless righteousness. What 
garments can be more spotless than these. 

We are sometimes proud of our clothing, 
and yet the silly sheep or the crawling worm 
wore them before us. It is nothing but sec- 
ond hand clothes that the richest and proud- 
est wear. But the garments which Christ 
gives us, are new y fresh from His wardrobe. 
They will last, and retain their unsullied lus- 
tre through all eternity. And lastly : 

(4.) A crown shall be yours if you become 
the children of God. 

Did you read of the gems and jewels which 
adorned the young bride who was lately mar- 
ried to him who is to be the king of England. 
They were truly magnificent. If converted 
into money, they might have fed all the starv- 
ing families in their kingdom, which are to- 
day crying for bread. But those jewels do 
not add to the happiness of any one. Under 
their flash and glitter there may be an aching- 
head. 

But O, the crown which Christ shall give 
those who are His. It is a crown of glory. 
It is joy to have it placed upon the brow by 



KOYAL CHILDREN. 59 

His hand, and that joy shall never end. The 
gold may become dim, the diamond may lose 
its sparkle, but the crown of glory shall never 
fade away. 

All this, children, can he yours. A home 
with God in heaven ; a guard of angels to at- 
tend yon through life ; a robe of righteous- 
ness ; and a crown of life. 

And now let me ask you, in conclusion, Do 
you not desire to become the children of the 
great King ? Can any of you refuse to come 
to Christ ? He is standing waiting to receive 
you. He is saying, " Suffer the little children 
to come unto me." Oh, go to Him, and that 
too, this very day. Wait not till to-morrow, 
but come now. Let me lead you to the Sav- 
iour. I am going once more to commit you 
to Him, before we part. Pray with me when 
I pray ; pray as soon as you go home ; pray 
when you lie down to sleep ; pray when you 
wake in the morning. Pray that He would 
make you His children, until He answers your 
prayers. 



Seeking tlje $orsi. 



Luke xix. 10. " Tlie Son of Man is come to seek and 
to save that which was lost." 

OT many months ago two little children 
were lost in the woods. I do not think 
that you children have any idea of what 
a great forest is ; and how impossible 
it is for one who is a stranger in the 
woods, to find his way, when once 
he is lost. I know that I had not, till I went 
away on a vacation, a year or two ago, and 
with some of my friends, visited that great 
forest, which extends along the northern part 
of the State of New York. After journeying 
two days, we secured some men who were 
well acquainted with that part of the country, 



SEEKING THE LOST 61 

for guides, to keep ns from being lost. At 
first we took a bridle path, and followed it till 
we were nnder the shadow of great trees which 
had stood there unmolested for centuries. We 
could see no path, but our guide seemed to be 
acquainted with every tree, and knew just as 
well where we were as you would in the open 
road. We walked on and on for hours, get- 
ting deeper and deeper into the woods, till at 
noon-day it was almost like twilight, and we 
all felt that if we should lose our guides, we 
would never be able to get back again to our 
homes. At last, after a long and weary walk 
we came to a rude hut, where we were to pass 
the night. It was the only sign all around us 
that any body had ever been there before. 
The sun soon set and the darkness of night 
gathered around us. The light from our lire 
made strange shadows among the tall trees, 
and the gloom and darkness of the woods 
more profound. I shall never forget that 
night. Miles away from any human habita- 
tion — how still it was ! — we could hear the 
beating of our hearts, except when the wind 
would moan through the branches as if it 



bU SEEKING THE LOST. 

•were sighing for some sorrow which it could 
not tell, or when the distant howl of the cata- 
mount, or the peculiar patter of some startled 
deer, crashing through the dense undergrowth, 
broke the stillness. It was a time for solemn 
thoughts of our dependence upon God and of 
His nearness to us, for there were the same 
stars looking down upon us which were look- 
ing down upon our friends at home, and we 
knew that the same God was watching over 
both them and us. To have been alone there, 
or to have had no one to guide us back again, 
would have made us very miserable indeed — 
we should have been lost , we never could 
have found our way home again. 

But 1 commenced by saying that two little 
children, not many months ago, were lost in 
the woods. It was just such woods as those 
which 1 visited ; nothing but trees for miles 
and miles around them. One day in spring, 
they wandered away from home to gather 
wild flowers, and the farther they went the 
more beautiful the flowers seemed to be, till 
at last it began to grow dark and they thought 
of returning; home. They were sure that they 



SEEKING THE LOST. G3 

had taken the right direction. " See, see," 
said the little boy, for they were brother and 
sister, "see, see, sister, yonder 's the light 
which mother has put in the window to guide 
us — no, it has gone out — yes, there it is again ; 
don't you see it ? It's gone again, but I know 
where it is ; a tree or a bush has hid it." And 
on they went till their feet began to sink in 
the soft earth, and the little girl said, " Stop, 
stop, brother, that is a swamp before us " — 
and it was. Poor children, the light was only 
a will o' the wisp, which nickers over marshes, 
and which has many a time led astray the 
weary traveller. Soon they began to feel that 
they were lost ; and oh, how sad it made 
them ! Lost in the woods ! Iso one near to 
tell them the way home ! They thought of 
their father, their mother, of little baby bro- 
ther in the cradle, and then they wept, because 
they might never see them any more. O, 
how that cry startled them. It was some 
wild beast prowling about at night. And 
they crouched down beside a tree to talk 
about home, and weep. And how do you 
think did that father and mother feel when their 



64 PEEKING THE LOST. 

children did not return, and they began to 
realize that they were lost % Knowing the 
danger of their children, they called together 
their neighbors and friends — and very will- 
ingly they helped them — to look after the lost 
ones. The mother remained at home, listen- 
ing every now and then at the door, for their 
return , and as she listened, her lips moved in 
silent prayer. What a night was that to the 
poor mother — no tidings of the loved ones. 
Morning dawned, and still no one came with 
the joyful news that they were found. The 
sun had almost finished his journey through 
the heavens, and was about to set, and with 
it the hope which had been cherished in the 
mother's heart, when one was seen approach- 
ing the house very fast, his face beaming with 
joy, to tell her that her children were found, 
safe and well. Poor little things, they had 
wandered farther and farther from home, and 
were fainting from Lunger wiici they woro 
discovered. 

But I see Carrie there is thinking that this 
is a yevy strange way of beginning a sermon, 
?nd womd like to say so to Mary if she w*\t> 



SEEKING THE LOST 65 

not in church. But if you will read the text 
again you will see that the story has some- 
thing to clo with it. " The Son of Man is 
come to seek and to save that which was lost?' 
Lost, lost, that is the word in the text which 
I am trying to make you understand. That 
little boy and girl who could not find their 
way home were lost, hut as we have seen, they 
were not so far lost hut what they could be 
found again. But let me tell you of another 
way of being lost. Did you never see in the 
papers, "Lost at sea" And did you ever try 
to think what it means ? I will tell you by 
telling a story, although some of you may feel 
that it is but too true. 

A year or two ago a boy left this village to 
go to sea. He was to make a long voyage. 
It would be months, perhaps a whole year, 
before he would see his home again. His 
friends, after a few months, received a letter 
from him. He was safe and well in a for- 
eign port, and would soon sail for home again. 
In due time the sailors could begin to sing, 
"Homeward bound,'' for they had weighed 
anchor, and were leaving the land far behind 



66 SEEK AG THE LOST 

them. Day after day passed away. Some- 
times they were running before a fair wind, 
and the vessel seemed almost to leap from bil- 
low to billow. Then it shifted round, and 
they went this way and that way, but ever 
making toward home. Sometimes the storm 
raged, and the great ship was only like a 
feather on the ocean ; now tossed up on the 
very pinnacle of some towering billow, and 
then rushing down the steep sides of this 
mountain of water. At last the cry was heard, 
" Land ! ho !" and all hearts were glad. They 
would soon see their friends again. Our sail- 
or boy was glad. As he took his watch at 
night, he stood upon the bows, looking away 
off into the darkness, in the direction of home, 
and bright and pleasing were the pictures 
which filled his mind. He would soon meet 
his father and mother ; he would soon see his 
brothers and sisters ; and what a happy meet- 
ing would it be, after such a long absence. 
But his dreams were never to be realized ; a 
storm arose. Obedient to the command, he 
ran up the dizzy height to execute some or- 
der, his brave heart unappalled, although the 



SEEKING THE LOST. 67 

vessel was rocking from side to side, so that 
the yards almost touched the water. His foot 
slipped, or his hand grew tired, and down, 
down he came through the darkness, to find a 
bed in the ocean. One startling cry, louder 
than the blast, told of his fate — none could 
rescue him. He was lost at sea. He sleeps 
to this day m some chamber of the ocean, 
where the storm never comes, where no mon- 
ument can be placed to mark his resting place. 
But ever when the storm rages, it seems to 
chant the sailor boy's requiem. That is being 
lost at sea. But there is still a sadder loss 
than that. And now listen while I tell you 
about it by telling another story. 

There was once a little boy, the pride and 
joy of his mother, for he had no father. He 
was the only son of his mother, and she was 
a widow. She had tried to bring him up to 
love and serve God. "When a little child, she 
had taught him to pray. He was a lovely, a 
noble boy As she looked upon him, she 
thought in her heart, " When I am old, my 
son will comfort me ; when I walk with tot- 
tering steps, his strong arm will support me ; 



68 SEEKING THE LOST. 

and when I am upon my dying bed, lie will 
stand by me to wipe away the death dew from 
my brow, and then close my eyes when they 
can no longer discern light from darkness. 
But, alas ! her hopes were to be disappointed. 
The time came when he had to leave home 
and begin the world for himself. lie had to 
meet temptations, and they were too strong 
for him. Evil companions became his asso- 
ciates. His evenings were spent in folly and 
dissipation, till at last he was what we call a 
moral wreck ; character, reputation all gone. 
Some months ago he was sent into a gloomy 
prison, to expiate by long years of unreward- 
ed labor, a crime which he committed when 
under the influence of the intoxicating cup. 
As far as this world is concerned, he is a lost 
man — lost to his mother, lost to all that is 
good and noble. 

But I see you are beginning to wonder why 
I am telling you about children lost in the 
woods ; and the sailor boy lost at sea ; and 
still more about that boy who is to-day in the 
state prison, lost forever to his mother. We 
are not all lost in that sense, and I hope we 



SEEKING THE LOST. 69 

never shall be. And jet I must tell yon, chil- 
dren, that we are all lost in a far sadder sense 
than any of these. Yes, hopelessly lost, had 
not the Son of Man come to seek and save us. 
And it is because of this, that I have chosen 
this text to-day. It is because of this, that I 
have just read to you about the lost sheep, 
and the lost piece of money, and the lost son, 
the prodigal who was found again. And now 
let me explain the text by telling you three 
things : 

I. How we are lost. 

II. Who has come to seek us. 

III. How He is seeking us. 

First, then, I am to tell you, how we are 
lost. 

You sometimes sing in those beautiful 
hymns which you have learned : 

" Earth is a desert drear — 
Heaven is my home." 

But did you know, children, that unless Christ 
seeks after us till He finds us, there is none of 
is on the way to heaven. We are all (till we 
we found by Him) wandering, just as that lit- 



70 SEEKING THE LOST. 

tie boy and girl were, away from home. 
Every day we are journeying farther and far- 
ther from home. It is a very sad thought, hut 
it is true, that we are all like the prodigal 
son, going off into a far country, wasting our 
time, wasting our talents, and all that God 
has given us, forgetful of our Father in heaven, 
and of the glorious home which He has pro- 
vided for us. And the strangest thing about 
it is that we all think, when we think about 
it at all, that we are going home, that we are 
not lost, that when we come to that dark gate- 
way where the gloomy shadows rest, we 
will pass safely through to that bright home 
of which you sing. But this is not so ; it is 
all a mistake. We are all lost till the Son of 
Man finds us, and begins to lead us home. 
There was a little boy, who lived in the 
hills of Scotland, called Harry. He was much 
like other children — had been to church and 
to Sabbath school, and thought that this was 
all that God required of him. One day he 
came to church ; it was the last Sabbath of 
the year, and the minister took for his text, 
' The night is far spent, and the day is at 



SEEKING THE LOST. 71 

hand ; let us put off the works of darkness, 
and let us put on the armor of light." The 
minister went on to show that the night — that 
is, this life — was far spent, that it would soon 
be over with them all, and they would then 
begin an unending day with Christ in heaven, 
or a long, eternal night away from Him. 
Harry listened with serious attention, and the 
truth went to his heart ; for you know, I be- 
lieve, that children not only can be, but should 
be, Christians. During the night, Harry's 
mother heard some one talking in his room, 
and she went to see what it meant, and there 
was Harry on his knees, repeating the passage, 
and praying that he might put off the works 
of darkness, and put on the armor of light. 
He told his mother that he felt that he was 
lost, and wished some one to direct him in the 
way of life. Early in the morning the minis- 
ter was sent for, and although it was a long 
and tedious ride through the deep snow, yet 
he went very cheerfully. He told Harry that 
the Son of God had come to seek and save 
that which was lost. And it- was such good 
news to him he felt it was the very Saviour 



72 SEEKING THE LOST. 

lie needed, and gladly did lie unite with his 
pastor in beseeching the good Shepherd to 
take him, a little lost lamb, under His care ; 
and the prayer was heard ; and that very hour 
he felt that he was Christ's, and come what 
would, he would reach home at last. It was 
only a few days after this, before he was safe 
in the good fold above. For Christ did not 
leave him long to wander in this world. He 
died, but it was a peaceful, happy death. It 
was only going home. 

JSTow, children, you are all lost, just the 
same way that Harry was, and you all need 
the same Saviour. Do not think that because 
you are so young that it is no matter whether 
you are wandering away from home or not. 
There is nothing like beginning this journey 
right. The sooner you can say, " We're home- 
ward bound," the better it will be for you. 
And now let me pass in the second place to 
tell you : 

2. Who is seeking us. 

My text says, " The Son of Man." Now 
this is a very strange name ; a name which 
can only be applied to one, the Son of Man. 



SEEKING TnE LOST T6 

I see that Charlie, there, is ready to tell me, 
" I know, sir, who you mean ; Christ is the 
Son of Man ;" and that is right. But what 
do you think was the reason that he called 
Himself by that name ? He sometimes, you 
know, called Himself the Son of God. And 
that is the very wonder of it, that He should 
he both, the Son of God, and the Sou of Man. 
And let me tell you something more, that as 
the Son of God merely, He could never have 
come to seek and to save. Before He could 
do this, He must become the Son of Man. 
You know how great and glorious He was as 
the Son of God. He sat upon a throne of 
dazzling brightness, and robes of glorious 
majesty covered Him ; there was a crown up- 
on Hfe brow, and a sceptre in His hand. He 
spake and a sun came into being, out of noth- 
ing. He spake, and worlds clustered around 
it. He spake, and angels and archangels, 
seraphim and cherubim, stood round His 
throne, and bowed clown to worship Him, as 
the Creator. So glorious was He as the Son 
of God. But one day He said to the angels, 
" I go to seek and save the poor lost children of 
c 



74 SEEKING THE LOST. 

men." And they wondered why lie did not 
send them. lie told them that to do it, lie 
must beeome the Son of Man, and they won- 
dered still more. 

Now look and behold Him as the Son ot 
Man. Pause here, children, at this rude hut, 
for do you not see the star, the bright star of 
Bethlehem, shining over it % Let us enter in. 
Why, it is a stable ! — there rest the oxen in 
their stalls. But see that empty manger. No, 
not empty, for there sleeps a little babe there. 
How beautiful He is, too. But why do those 
wise men bow down to worship. There is no 
glory round His brow. He looks like any 
other child ; and yet, children, he is the Son of 
God, as the Son of Man. Oh ! I shall never 
cease wondering at this. I know I shall won- 
der still more if I ever get to heaven, when I 
see Him in all His glory. He became a babe 
that He might say, " Suffer little children to 
come unto Me." He became a youth that He 
might say, " Remember now thy Creator, in 
the days of thy youth." He became a man 
that He might say, " To you, oh men, I call, 
and My voice is to the sons of men ;" and that 



SEEKING THE LOST. 75 

lie might lead children, youth, and those who 
have come to man's estate, wherever He finds 
them wandering, home. This is the Son of 
Man, and this is one of the reasons why He 
who was the Son of God became man. He 
came into the world jnst on purpose to seek 
and to save that which was lost. " Bnt, ah," 
says Willie, " the Son of Man is now in heaven, 
for I read in the Bible about His going up from 
the Mount of Olives, while a cloud received 
Him out of sight. I wish I had lived before 
He went away, for then He might have found 
and saved me." But, Willie, He is seeking 
the lost now, just as much as when He was 
upon earth. And this leads me to tell you 

3. How He is seeking us. 

There was a little girl w T ho lived in the pine 
woods of £Tew Jersey, who had never heard of 
Christ in heaven. In this Christian land, she 
was a little heathen. One day a gentleman 
met her in the woods, and asked her the way 
to a certain place. She answered him very 
rudely. Poor little thing, she did not know 
any better. He got down from his horse, and 
sat down under the shade of a tree ; and the 
c2 



76 SEEKING THE LOST. 

little shy thing kept out of his reach, for she 
was afraid of him. He took from his pocket 
a card, with a picture upon it, and let it float 
away on the wind. The little girl soon pick- 
ed it up ; she had never seen any thing so beau- 
tiful before. There was one mild, sweet face 
on the card, and losing her fear of the stran- 
ger, she drew near to ask him about the pic- 
ture. He told her the simple story -of Jesus, 
and although He was in heaven now, yet He 
loved children all the same as He did when 
on earth. Then he taught her this little 
prayer, " Lord Jesus, please make me Thy 
child. Teach me how to love Thee and be 
like Thee." And then he had to leave her. 
Some months after, a young lady who was 
sick, went to live in the woods a short time 
for her health, who taught little Maggie still 
more about Christ, till she felt herself to be 
lost and found again. Now, Christ sought 
her. He sent that good gentleman to seek 
her, and then that pious lady. This is often 
the way that Christ seeks after us now. He 
sent me to this place for the very purpose of 
seeking you. I took my Bible, for in that are 



SEEKING THE LOST 77 

the instructions which He has given me, and 
there I found that I must attend to the lambs. 
And you know, children, how often I have in- 
vited you to come to the Saviour. I would, 
if I could, take you all by the hand and lead 
you to Him. And when I had brought you 
to His feet have you say, " Dear Saviour, who 
hast been so long seeking me, here I am, a 
sinful child, lost and straying ; take me, lead 
me through this wilderness world to Thy 
home." 

But there is another way in which Chris* 

seeks the lost. He sends another messen- 

. ger for them ; be not afraid when I tell 

you his name — Death. He sends him and 

says, " Bring that little boy or girl back to 

Me." Since I preached to you last He has 

sent him twice to this place, and a short time 

before that, three times to one family. Into 

'the houses he entered there was mourning 

and weeping, but there was rejoicing among 

the angels. For it was to Christ that Death 

took them. Death's arms were icy cold, but 

warm was the bosom of the Redeemer ; and 

now He is leading little Alfred and Ellen in 

c3 



78 SEEKING THE LOST. 

green pastures, and beside the still waters oi 
His own glorious abode. 

And now, children, let me ask yon, Will 
you seek Christ, when He is seeking you? 
But how shall I seek Him, do you ask ? By 
prayer. He can hear you when you call ; no 
matter how far you may be from Him. You 
have only to say, " O, Thou blessed Jesus, 
who didst come to seek and to save the lost, I 
come to Thee, a poor lost wanderer. Save 
me for Thy mercy's sake." And He will 
take you in His arms, fold you to His bosom ; 
and you shall be His forever more. 



%\t pitle %ttix%\ W^> 



2 Kings v. 2. " And the Syrians had gone out by 
companies, and had brought away captive, out of the 
land of Israel, a little maid, and she waited on Naa- 
man's wife.' : 

) OW very quickly the weeks and months 
pass away, children. It seems only 
like a few days since I addressed you 
last; but nevertheless, the sixth part of 
a whole year has gone. We have 
marched along together a good way in 
that road which has no turnings, and no wind- 
ings ; which the old and the young, the grave 
and the gay, all travel with the same rapidity. 
The hours wait for no man, nor do they hasten 
for any. The child may wish the days that 



80 THE LITTLE JEWISH MAID. 

intervene between some pleasing event, gone, 
or the king upon his throne may wish them 
to linger ; but heeding neither the child nor 
the king, the sun counts them off, neither faster 
nor slower than before. In his journey round 
this earth, the sun counts off, day after day, 
till at last, the great bell of heaven strikes the 
hour of our departure, and we are ushered into 
that world, where time ends, and eternity be- 
gins. 

This was the first thought which i had, as I 
sat down, to write this sermon for you. I 
thought that I would tell you, that you may 
know how fast these precious hours, with their 
golden opportunities, are passing. Soon I 
shall have preached, and you listened, to our 
last sermon. Bear this in mind while I speak 
to you, about the Little Hebrew Maid. 

I must take you with me on a long journey. 
I do not mean that the little girl lived in a 
country so very far from ours, although this 
is true, but it is a journey back through ages 
— one of the journeys which never tire little 
feet. 

We speak of travelling by steam. How 



THE LITTLE JEWISH MAID. 81 

swiftly we can go, from one place to another. 
Twenty, thirty miles an hour, how soon it 
brings ns to our journey's end, even if we are 
bound for the far West, or across the ocean. 
But children can travel faster than cars, or 
steamships. I do not mean with the body, 
but with the mind. 

If I should say to you, imagine yourselves 
among the heathery hills of Scotland, or in 
the crowded streets of London — without the 
least effort, you could think of yourselves as 
there. It is such a journey that I wish you 
to take with me to-day, and I will see that it 
is a Sabbath day's journey, for it will be to 
the land of the Bible. 

Come with me, then, and let us stand, not 
beside the city of David, but at the well of 
Jacob ; the same well at which the Lord of 
life begged water from a woman of Samaria, 
and gave to her the living water. 

What a beautiful country ! How tall and 
graceful are these trees which adorn Mount 
Gerizim. A holy man lives here — the pro- 
phet of Israel. See him, with his long white 
beard, and flowing locks. How mild and 
c5 



82 THE LITTLE JEWISH MAID. 

pleasant he looks, just the man to multiply 
the widow's oil — just the man to restore to life 
the son of the weeping Shunamite. 

Look well at the house into which he is en- 
tering. What a house ! do you say, for a pro- 
phet ? It is true, it is nothing better than a 
mean hut. But let me tell you, children, and 
I wish you to remember it — the greatest men 
do not live in palaces. To this day, you will 
find more truly good and great men, in peas- 
ants' huts, than in lordly halls. 

But, stand back, stand back. jJo you not 
see that cloud of dust yonder ? Po you not 
hear the rumbling of chariot wheels, and the 
trumpet's loud blast? It is some great man 
passing through the land, in state, and he 
needs to tell how great he is in this manner. 
He must be going to the king's palace. No, 
he has just left the royal mansion, and see, he 
stops at the prophet's humble door. 

One of his servants knocks, imperiously, 
and tells them within, that Naaman, the Sy- 
rian, the great and successful general, has 
come to see the prophet, that he may cleanse 
him of his leprosy. For, although, a great 



THE LITTLE JEWISH MAID, 83 

man, lie has that most loathsome and incur- 
able disease. And yet, so proud of heart is 
he, that instead of humbly asking, he almost 
demands this favor from the prophet. 

But, see how the man of God treats him. 
You might think that the poor prophet would 
come out with all haste to do him homage, 
considering himself highly honored by a visit 
from such an illustrious personage. But he 
did no such thing. Kaaman was only the 
servant of the king of Syria ; but Elisha was 
the servant of the most High God. 

Men may talk about titles, and noble birth, 
and an illustrious ancestry, but I tell you, 
children, that the highest title a man can 
have in this world, the most honorable posi- 
tion which he can occupy, is to be, and to be 
called, a servant of Christ. Whenever you 
hear any one speaking of noble men, just ask 
them if they are Christian men, for the good 
alone are great. But I must not forget tho 
story. 

Elisha did not go out to meet Naaman. lie 
merely sent him a message by his servant 
Gehazi : " Go wash sev^en times in Jordan." 
c6 



84 THE LITTLE JEWISH MAID, 

Oh, how angry proud Haaman was. Why, 
said he, " I thought he would come out to my 
chariot, and call upon the name of his God, 
and strike his hand over the place, and recover 
me of the leprosy. But, instead of this, to 
tell me to go and wash in Jordan, that mean 
little river ! Why not in some of the noble 
rivers of Damascus ?" 

Fine talk this, for a poor but proud leper. 
His servants know better, and persuaded him 
to renounce his pride, and do as he was com- 
manded. And as the prophet told, he is cured 
of his fearful disease. 

But now you may ask, how did Kaaman 
know about the prophet in Israel, and that he 
could recover him of his leprosy ? 

You know the Syrians did not like the chil- 
dren of Israel, and the children of Israel did 
not like them. They were idolaters. They 
worshipped the god Rimmon, who was no 
God. They did not believe in the God of 
Abraham, whom the Jews worshipped, and 
who is the only true God. 

Well, I will tell you how Naaman came to 
know about Elisha. Some time before, the 



THE LITTLE JEWISH MAID. 85 

Syrians had gone out by companies, for the 
purpose of plundering the Israelites. They 
were cruel, hard-hearted men. Not only did 
they take herds and flocks for spoil, but also 
little children, as captives, and kept or sold 
them as slaves. Among these was a little 
maid, and she was given as a present to Naa- 
man's wife, and she waited on her. 

I think I see that little girl, when her ser- 
vices are not needed, going out to weep in 
some quiet place. Perhaps her father and 
mother were both killed by Naaman's cruel 
men of war. She sighs for her own native 
land. She thinks of the green trees, and 
shady groves : of the beautiful temple, and 
the long line of white-robed priests, who offer 
the sacrifices at the altar. She will not go 
into the temple of Simmon — they cannot 
make her bow down to an idol. But morning, 
noon, and night, she prays to the God of her 
fathers, and asks Him to be her God, although 
she may never tread the courts of the temple 
again. And having prayed well, she lives 
well. 

She forgets the cruelty of Naaman — she 



86 THE LITTLE JEWISH MAID. 

forgets the wrong which lie has done her. 
She knows how to forgive an injury — she 
pities him, as she sees him a poor leper, and 
very modestly says to her mistress, " Would 
God, my lord were with the prophet that is 
in Samaria, for he would recover him of his 
leprosy." How did she know that he could, 
or would, for Elisha had never healed any 
one before. She knew that the man of God 
had great power, and had performed many 
wonderful miracles. She had faith to believe, 
that if he could do these things, the God who 
had given him this power would also enable 
him to heal the captain of the Syrian host. 
She never thinks for a moment, that he might 
refuse to do it, and that Naaman might come 
home in anger, and destroy her for sending 
him on such a useless errand. She has strong- 
er faith than this. How many prayers did 
she offer for her master, as he went on his 
journey. How acceptable were they to the 
prayer-hearing God. What a reward, too, 
was hers, for she was the means, under 
God, of the conversion of this poor hea- 
then. To-day, in heaven, that little He- 



THE LITTLE JEWISH MAID. 8| 

brew maid lias a big bright jewel in her 
crown of glory. 

We are not told what Naaman did when 
he returned home. We know this much, that 
lie could not be a hard and cruel master, since 
he was a converted man. 

This, then, is the story of the little Hebrew 
maid. I have told you a long story ^ but I 
mean to preach a short sermon about it. This 
story teaches us three things : 

I. Children can be Christians. 

II. Christian children can do much good. 

III. Such children will have a glorious re- 
ward. 

First, then, I am to show you from this 
story, that: 

I. Children can be Christians. 

Now, I see plainly that some of you are 
thinking, why, this was not a Christian child. 
She was a Jewess, and the Jews did not love 
Christ. They were the wicked men who cru- 
cified Him. 

Ah, but children, do you not know that 
there were a great many pious Jews, who 



8S THE LITTLE JEWISH MAID. 

worshipped God, and longed and prayed foi 
the time when Christ would come. 

But how could she be a Christian before 
Christ came into the world ? I will tell you : 
she believed in a Saviour to come, just as we 
believe in a Saviour who has already come. 

But, says Mary, I did not know that reli-l 
gion was any thing that children should trou- 
ble themselves about. Why, I thought it 
was only for old people, or for those who were 
just going to die. Then they send for the 
minister, and have him pray that God would 
forgive them their sins, for Jesus' sake, and 
take them to heaven, if they should not get 
well. 

A great many think just like you, Mary. 
But I cannot begin to tell you how wrong it is. 
I have wondered time and again, how any 
can feel thus. I try to tell them differently, 
but it is only now and then, that one seems to 
believe ; not what I say — that would be noth- 
ing, but what God has said in his word, lie 
says, "They that seek Me early shall find 
Me." He represents Himself as being near tu 
children, and says, u Seek ye the Lord, while 



THE LITTLE JEWISH MAID. 89 

lie is near, call ye upon Him while He may 
be found." And yet they say by their ac- 
tions, " We will not be in a hurry — we will 
wait." 

Let me tell you a story, a true story, and 
this will show you how dangerous it is to 
wait. 

A friend of mine told me story about a lad 
who attended his church during a revival of 
religion. He seemed to be very attentive, 
but he was not a Christian. When asked if 
he did not desire to become a Christian, he 
answered, " Oh, there is time enough yet, I 
am young, and a few years will make no dif- 
ference." Three short weeks passed away. 
The minister was called to see that boy on a 
sick, and as it proved to be, a dying bed. He 
asked him again, "Is it not time to seek the 
Saviour now f " " Oh, sir," said the dying 
boy, " it is too late, too late. My time was 
when you spoke to me before," and the last 
words he uttered were, " too late, too late." 

But I know that children think they can- 
not be Christians. We do not know how old 
this little Hebrew maid was ; but as we have 



90 THE LITTLE JEWISH MAID. 

seen, she was a Christian. And x can tell 
yon about a great many children, who 
loved and served the Saviour in the days of 
their youth. Here is one : 

Anna G was only nine years of age. 

Many a time did she think thus in her heart : 
I wish I was a Christian. Could she be a 
Christian so young ? Yes, younger children 
than she have been Christians, and why not 
Anna ? She had pious parents. When she 
was only a little babe they had given her to 
God, and prayed for her every day that He 
would make her His child. She had been 
taught a great deal about God and heaven, 
and all good things. But still she said, I am 
not a Christian, and I don't know how to be 
one. After thinking a great deal about it, 
and praying a great many times to the Lord 
to teach her, and shedding a great many tears 
over her naughtiness, she one day made this 
resolution : 

I don't know as I shall ever be a Christian, 
and feel that Jesus has pardoned all my sins, 
but this I will do. I will give myself to the 
Saviour every day of my whole life. I will 



THE LITTLE JEWISH MAID. 91 

read my Bible, and pray that my sins may be 
forgiven, and then I will try and act just as 
Christians do. So Anna commenced to do 
as she had said, and the blessed Saviour lis- 
tened to her prayers, forgave her sins, and 
accepted her as His child. She was a Chris- 
tian. 

And now, children, why not follow Anna's 
example ? Why wait, when the Saviour has 
sent me to invite you to come to Him. I 
wish I could make you all leave the house of 
God this day with the same resolution. Why, 
there would be rejoicing not only among the 
thousands of little children in heaven, but 
also among the angels of God. 

But I must pass to the second part of this 
sermon : 

2. Children can not only become Christians, 
but they can also do a great deal of good in 
the world. 

Had God said to an angel in heaven, " Whe- 
ther would you rather be, the king of Syria, 
with all his gold and silver and armies, or 
that little Hebrew maid, who is a captive, but 
loves and serves Me, and who has been the 



92 THE LITTLE JEWISH MAID. 

means of sending Naaman, the leper, to My 
prophet in Samaria?" the angel would not 
have paused a moment, before he answered : 
" The little Hebrew maid. She has done some- 
thing which will always be remembered." 

It is just thus that God and angels look at 
this life. God gives us all opportunities of 
doing good. And He wishes us to improve 
them. The great trouble with us all is that 
we do so little for Christ, even when we begin 
to serve Him in our youth. Why, when we 
think of what we have done for Christ, it 
makes us blush for shame. 

But I see Lizzie there, would like to say, 
" But, sir, although children may become Chris- 
tians, you surely mean that they must be old 
enough to join the Church, and be Sabbath 
school teachers, before they can serve Christ." 

No, I mean just what I said, that children 
can serve Him. Why, it is serving Christ to 
go to the sick bed of a dying child, and hold 
to its parched lips a cup of coid water, in His 
name. It is serving Christ, if we are first 
Christians ourselves, to pray that He would 
convert our brothers, sisters, and playmates. 



THE LITTLE JEWISH MAID. 93 

It is serving Christ, to tell about Jesus, and 
invite others to come to Him. It is serving 
Christ, to give our little mite to send a tract 
or a Testament to some heathen child, if we 
pray for God's blessing to accompany it. 

Here I must tell yon another story, to show 
you how a little girl served Christ. 

There was a little German girl, I cannot 
tell you her name, for I do not know it, who 
had for the first time in her life, entered a 
Protestant church. She there heard of Christ 
as a Saviour, and before she left the church 
she had found Him. So easy is it to find 
Christ when we seek Him with our whole 
heart. 

Full of joy and wonder, she ran home to 
tell her father, who was a bigoted Roman 
Catholic, what a Saviour she had found. But 
to her surprise, he became very angry, and 
beat her cruelly, and forbade her to mention 
the subject again in his house. 

She, however, continued to attend the 
church, and expressed a desire to become a 
member, that she might partake of the bread 
and wine — the memorials of Christ's broken 



04: THE LITTLE JEWISH MAID. 

body and shed blood. Her father told her if 
she did, he would beat her to death. 

But you know, children, Christ has said, 
" If any one love father or mother more than 
Me, he is not worthy of Me." She loved 
Christ best, and obeyed His command. When 
she returned home and told her father what 
she had done, he beat her unmercifully and 
drove her from the house, telling her never to 
return again until she had given up the new 
religion. There is a promise in the Word of 
God, " When thy father and mother forsake 
thee, the Lord will take thee up." God 
never forgets His promises, and as we might 
expect, He provided for this little girl. And 
now I will tell you how she tried to serve 
Christ. 

The first Monday in every month she spent 
in distributing tracts to all the German fami- 
lies of her acquaintance ; never passing by 
her father's house, although sure of being 
beaten and driven from it. But she said, " I 
did not care for the blows, for my father's 
poor soul was all I thought of." 

How long do you think she kept this up ? 



THE LITTLE JEWISH MAID. 95 

A month % two months % Yes, for eighteen 
months ; praying all the time that God would 
convert her poor father. 

After having visited him so long, with the 
same treatment every time, he suffered her to 
read, converse, and pray with him. The next 
month, with tears in his eyes, he begged his 
daughter to forgive him, and pray for him. 
And he knelt down and prayed, too, although 
all he conld say was, " O, Lord, forgive ; O, 
Lord, forgive." And before long she had the 
satisfaction of knowing that her father had 
also found the Savionr. 

Can children do nothing for Christ ? How 
many grown-up Christians will such an exam- 
ple put to the blush ! Did the children but 
begin to serve Christ, how much good could 
they do. 

But I have only a little more to say about 
the last head of this sermon, and I am done. 

3. The reward which such children will re- 
ceive. 

There is a beautiful verse in the very last 
book of the Bible, which are the words of 
Christ Himself. I never read it but what it 



90 THE LITTLE JEWISH MAID. 

seems as though Christ was speaking to me 
from heaven. It is this : " Behold I come 
quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give 
every man according as his works shall be." 
It seems as if Christ was saying, Work dili- 
gently, for I will soon come for thee ; and as 
you labor, think of the glorious reward. What 
is this reward ? A crown of life which fadeth 
not away, and somehow or other I think there 
will be a star in that crown for every soul 
that we have led to Christ. Some will have 
crowns without a single star ; some will have 
one or two ; while others will have a diadem 
of stars. 

The little Hebrew maid will have one bright 
star at least, and so will that little German 
girl ; Paul and Peter will have so many that 
we will not be able to number them. How 
will it be with you, my child ? Do you not 
desire to work for Christ 1 Come, then, to 
Him, and having given yourself to Him, work 
with all your might. Speak to your compan- 
ions about the blessed Saviour. Send Bibles 
and tracts to the heathen, and Sabbath school 
missionaries and libraries to the poor children 



THE LITTLE JEWISH MAID. 97 

in the far West. God will watch over your 
little offerings. He knows the book your 
money bought. He knows all the good it has 
done. And when yon stand before His judg- 
ment seat, some will rise up and call yon 
blessed. Yon never saw them; they are 
strangers to yon. But Christ will make them 
known. That heathen child heard of Christ 
from the little book yonr money purchased. 
That child from your own land was brought 
to the Saviour by the little tract you sent. 
And Christ will say, These are the fruits of 
your labors ; and placing a crown upon your 
brow, He will say, This is your reward. 

God grant that you may all have starry 
crowns in that day. 



%\t Bnato Sermon. 



Psalm li. 7. "Wash me, and I shall be whiter tUan 
snow.'' 

sliAT a beautiful world this is, cliil 
dren ; beautiful iu winter as well as 
in summer ; beautiful in fall as well 
as in spring. I know that each lias a 
different kind of beauty, and it is all 
the better for this, because we love 
variety. Were it all sunshine, clay after day, 
we should get tired of it. Were the fields al- 
ways green, the flowers ever blooming, we 
should forget all about their beauty and long 
for some change. So you see God has wisely 
ordered it that the grand panorama should be 
different. ]STo two days are just alike. It is 




THE SXOW SEEMOX. UU 

as if He was changing the great picture which 
He has spread ont before ns, every day ; per- 
mitting ns to see it to-day in one light, to- 
morrow in another. Now dipping His pencil 
in deepest green, now in gold and crimson, 
and then again spreading a covering of snow 
over all, as pure and spotless as if He had 
dropped down upon earth the cnrtain which 
conceals His glorious throne. 

Did yon notice yesterday, children, how si- 
lently the snow fell from heaven. Flake after 
flake came down here and there, as if they 
were things of life, as if each one of them 
wished to fall just in its own place. When 
you looked across the fields it was one unbro- 
ken plain of white ; many of the deformities 
of earth were concealed. It reminded me of 
the mantle of charity, which hides a multi- 
tude of sins. 

There is something grand in a snow storm, 
especially if you look out upon it from your 
own comfortable homes, and know that there 
is no one suffering around you; that even the 
poorest child in our midst is sheltered from 
the cold, and can warm itself beside the cheer- 



100 THE SXO W 6 E E M O N . 

ful fire. I know that children love the snow. 
Their eyes sparkle with delight as they watch 
the first flakes flying through the air, and 
their busy imaginations revel in the prospect 
which is before them. We love to have them 
feel so. We would not, if we could, dispel 
their happy dreams. We would rather join 
them in their sports, and help them to enjoy 
their innocent amusements. 

But I am afraid that you are beginning to 
think about your play, which, you know, 
would not be right in the house of God. 
This is the day in which, we should forget, as 
much as possible, all about this world, and 
think about that other world, to which we are 
all going. I know, too, that some of you are 
wondering what I have to tell you about the 
snow. Were this the time and place, I think 
I could tell you a great many curious things 
about it. I would advise joxi the next snow 
storm to go out, and take a sheet of paper 
with you ; catch upon it a few of the largest 
flakes ; be careful not to break them ; look at 
them before they melt, and you will be sur- 
prised to find how beautiful they are. As 



THLE «XOW SERMON. 101 

beautiful and delicate as the leaves of the fair- 
est flowers ; so that you will almost think that 
they are the spotless blossoms of a fairer world 
showered down upon this earth in richest pro- 
fusion. 

But it is about time that I had given you 
the name of this sermon. It is to be the Snow 
Sermon. I know you will all remember this. 

There are only a very few places in the Bi- 
ble where there is any thing said about snow. 
I wish you would all look them out. The 
reason why so little is said about it in the Bi- 
ble is, because it was written in a country 
where they had but very little snow. It was 
only once in a while that they saw the fields 
in tins pure dress. Christ did not speak about 
it once, but His disciples did. "When He was 
transfigured, Peter, James, and John, who 
then saw His glory, said His raiment was 
white as snow. And then again, when John 
saw Him in heaven, a great many years after 
Christ had left this world, he said that His 
head and His hair were white as snow. Had 
the Bible been written in a land like this, I 
have no doubt Christ would have had. much 



102 T n E SNOW SEEMON, 

to say about it. For He always took the most 
familiar things in nature to illustrate His in- 
structions, so that they might always remind 
His hearers of the gracious words which He 
spake. And it is because I like to follow the 
example of Christ, the great Teacher, that I 
have taken the words of David for my text. 
Let us read them again. Wash me and 1 
shall he whiter than snow. You see, chil- 
dren, that it is a prayer offered by him who 
was called the man after God's own heart. 
And it is just the prayer that we all need to 
offer, both old and young. For unless we 
have it answered by Him who heareth prayer, 
we can never dwell in His holy, happy home. 
Now I will tell you : 

I. What is meant by this prayer. 

II. Why we all need to offer it. 

III. The encouragement which we have 
that God will answer it. 

First, then, what is meant by this prayer. 

The youngest of yon know that there is 
nothing in this world whiter than snow. 
When we say, as white as snow, we mean 
just as white as can be made, without the 



THE SSOW SEEM ox. 103 

least speck or blemish. But I can explain 
this best by telling you a story — a Bible 
story. 

The night on which our Lord was betrayed 
into the hands of His enemies, to be crucified, 
He was with His disciples in an upper room. 
And as they sat talking in low and mournful 
strains (for Christ, their Master, felt very sad, 
and they sympathized with Him), He rose up 
and took a towel, and girded Himself with it, 
and a basin with water, and began to wash 
the feet of His disciples. When He came to 
Peter he was astonished that the other disci- 
ples should let their great and glorious Mas- 
ter take the place of a servant for them, and 
said, " No, Lord, Thuu shalt never wash my 
feet." Jesus knew what he meant, for you 
know He could read the heart, and said to 
him, " Peter, if I wash thee not, thou hast no 
part in Me ;" that is, you cannot be My disci- 
ple. Then said Peter, "Not my feet only, 
but my hands and my head." 

I need not tell you that neither Christ, nor 
David, nor Peter, meant by this washing the 
cleansing of the body. That is comparatively 



104 TIIE SNOW BEEMON. 

a small matter. But there is something which 
is all important, that is, the cleansing of our 
hearts. 

Job asked, a great many years ago, " Who 
can bring a clean thing out of an unclean 2" 
that is, who can make a sinful heart holy ? 
And he had to answer, " Not one." No man 
can do this. Sin is a stain which we cannot 
remove from our souls. We may weep bitter 
tears of sorrow, but these will not take it 
away. We may, like the monks of old, make 
pilgrimages, scourge ourselves, fast till we be- 
come emaciated like skeletons, but the black 
stain is still upon our hearts. And it would 
be sad indeed if we had to tell you that no 
one could make a sinful soul holy, or a guilty 
heart clean. There is One, and only One, 
who can do this, and that is God. I will tell 
you pretty soon by what means He does this. 
But first I will tell you a story, by which I 
hope to make what I have been saying, more 
plain. 

There was a little boy, we will call him Ed- 
die, for I have forgotten his name, it is so long 
since I heard the story. He was upon the 



THE SNOW SEEM ON. 105 

-whole, a pretty good boy, but he had some 
faults, and wished to overcome them. His 
father proposed a plan. He told Eddie that 
every time he committed one of these faults 
he might drive a nail into a post, and every 
time he was tempted to commit the fault, but 
'resisted, he might pull out one of the nails. 
It was a very successful plan. After a year 
of hard struggles, there stood the post with- 
out a single nail in it. " Well done, my son," 
said his father to him; "you have been a 
brave boy, to conquer these bosom enemies. 
There is not a single, nail in the post now." 
But the little boy was sad. " What is the 
matter," said his father, kindly. " 0," said 
the son, " the nails are all gone, but the marks 
are left." That is true ; even when we con- 
quer our faults, the marks remain upon our 
hearts. And this should trouble us. For, 
■just think how we would appear in heaven, 
beside the holy angels, should Grod take us 
there, without removing the stains from oui 
souls. 

There was once a man who had committed 
a great crime, for which he was condemned 



106 THE SNOW SERMON. 

to die. The day for liis execution drew near. 
The then President of the United States was 
told one day that a lady wished to see him on 
very important business. An interview was 
granted. To his surprise, a lady and six chil- 
dren knelt at his feet, imploring for the life 
of the husband and father. The President 
stood for some time in amazement, and then 
the big tears began to chase each other down 
his cheeks, and his voice was choked so that 
he could not speak. With his eyes streaming 
with tears, and his hands raised toward heaven, 
he pushed a way out of the room, and in a 
few moments returned with a paper in his 
hand. It was a free pardon for her husband. 
He was pardoned, and that very day released 
from prison, but he was still conscious of his 
sin. It troubled him by night and by day. 
He felt as though every body was pointing at 
him and saying, " There is a man who deserv- 
ed to die, but was pardoned through the in- 
tercession of his wife and the kindness of the 
President." 

Now this would be the case with us did God 
from heaven, "I will pardon you all," but 



THE SNOW SEEM ON. 107 

had provided no way to remove the stains of 
sin from our souls. We could not be happy. 
We should feel as though angels were saying, 
" What sin-defiled creatures these are. Look 
at the black stains upon their souk." And, 
children, if this was the way that God saved 
us, heaven would be no heaven to us. We 
could not be happy in such a holy place. 

But now I will tell you what God does for 
us, and then you will see what the prayer of 
the text means. You know that there are 
some things which will take out even the 
blackest stains. But what think you could 
take away the stains from our hearts ? Only 
one thing in the whole universe — the blood of 
Christ. This must be applied to our hearts, 
and then, although they are all denied with 
sin, they become white as snow. Not only 
are the nails taken out, but the marks of the 
nails are removed. 

But, do you ask how David knew any thing 
about the blood of Christ % For you all know 
that David lived a great many years before 
Christ died upon the cross. I will tell you. 
You ran st come with me to the tabernacle 



108 THE SNOW SERMON 

for the temple was not yet built, and yon will 
see how David learned it. 
.- The people have been looking for a long 
time for a red heifer ; red from horn to hoof, 
without a single white spot upon it. It was 
to be a type of Him who was red in His ap- 
parel, and His garments like one that treacleth 
in the wine press. They have found it, and 
there it stands, meek and patient. Let us see 
what they will do with it. They lead it with- 
out the camp. You know they crucified 
Christ outside of the walls of the city, and 
this was a prophecy of Him in type. There 
it is struck down with a blow, and as its life's 
blood flows away, they catch it in a dish, and 
take it to the high-priest. The body they 
cast upon the altar, till it is consumed to 
ashes. These ashes are gathered by the hand 
of a fit man, and are kept in a sacred place, 
as a precious treasure. When a man has* 
sinned, the high-priest takes some of these 
ashes and puts them in water, and with a 
bunch of hysso£> sprinkles them upon the de- 
filed man, and he is pronounced clean. 

It was in this manner that David and the 



T n E SXOAY SEEMON, 109 

rest of tlie Jews were taught to look away 
down to distant ages, when God's own sacri- 
fice should come, who could take away sin. 
Hence he prayed, "Purge me with hyssop 
and I shall be clean ; wash me and I shall be 
whiter than snow." He wished that precions 
blood, which was even then jnst as if it had 
been shed, applied to his heart. And God 
answered his prayer. 

Xow, children, this is all very wonderful, 
but it is just as true as it is wonderful. There 
are this day multitudes in heaven who were 
sinners once, like you and me, but they are 
now before the throne, pure as snow ; pure as 
the angels, who never sinned in thought, in 
word, or in de°d. They have washed their 
robes and made them white in the blood of 
the Lamb. 

But some of you may say, " Perhaps it is 
only little stains which this blood can take 
away. Great sins, sins which are black as 
darkness, cannot be removed." It is not so. 
One of the most comforting texts in the whole 
Bible for poor sinful creatures such as we are, 
is where God tells us this very thing. He 



110 T n E SNOW SERMON. 

says, and lie is speaking to you and to me, 
" Come now, and let us reason together, saith 
the Lord: though your sins he as scarlet, they 
shall he as white as snow ; though they he red 
like crimson, they shall he as wool." And 
then, in another place, " The hlood of Christ 
cleanseth from all sin." 

This, then, is what is meant hy the prayer 
for God to take away the stains of guilt from 
our souls. But I must haste now to tell you 
in the second place : 

2. Why each of us should offer this prayer. 

The first reason is, "because we are all sin- 
ners. It is a very solemn truth, children, that 
the very youngest of you have sinned against 
God. We know that some speak ahout inno- 
cent childhood, but where does wicked man- 
hood come from ? Did I ever tell you ahout 
the painter who wished to make two great 
pictures ; one to represent Innocence, the 
other to represent Guilt ? He saw at last a 
beautiful baby boy, sleeping in' his mother's 
arms. He had dimpled, rosy cheeks, and a 
smile so pure upon his face, that it seemed as 
though the ai.gels must be whispering to him 



THE SNOW SERMON. Ill 

in liis slumber. lie painted the likeness of 
tliis child, and every one said, " How sweet ; 
how innocent." 

Years passed away. The artist had not 
yet found his ideal of guilt. He saw many 
hardened wretches, but there was always some 
redeeming feature in their countenances. At 
length he visited a prison, and saw there a 
man bloated and besotted by sin. Every vice 
seemed to be written on his face. He took 
his portrait, and hung it up beside the other. 
What a contrast ! Every one smiled as they 
looked at the one, and shuddered as they look- 
ed at the other, and said, Is it possible that 
any one could be so wicked as that ? But 
what was the artist's surprise when he found 
that it was one and the same person he had 
painted. The beautiful babe had become the 
wicked man. 

Now, what I wish to show you, is this. In 
these little hearts of yours there are the seeds 
of sin ; small now, but if you let them alone 
they will soon become so great that you can- 
not root them out. 

You have all seen an acorn. The smallest 



112 THE SNOW SERMON. 

child can take it in his hand. It is no bigger 
than a marble. But put it in the ground and 
in a few years it will become a great tree, so 
that the birds can build in its branches. I 
once saw a young lion. It was as harmless 
as a lamb. You could play with it without 
the least danger. In the next cage there was 
a full-grown lion. There was murder in his 
eye. When he shook his shaggy mane and 
opened his strong jaws crying for blood, the 
other beasts trembled. I knew that in a 
few years the young lion would be just like 
him. 

It is just so with these hearts of ours. Be- 
fore the seeds of evil take root and grow, we 
know not how wicked we can become. Left 
to ourselves, children, we might become the 
vilest of sinners. It is only the grace of God 
that keeps us from this. You may say, I will 
never do so and so ; I will never commit such 
a sin as that. But you do not know. You 
cannot tell. You are not safe unless you have 
prayed to God, " Wash me and I shall be 
whiter than snow." For you are all sin- 
ners, and have need of this cleansing. This 



THE SNOW SERMON. 113 

is the second reason why we should all offer 
this prayer. 

Because God only, can take away our sins. 
I cannot take away my own sins, much less 
yours. I can only tell you how you may be 
cleansed from all iniquity. By praying to 
God that He would wash you in the blood of 
Christ. The precious blood of His Son, ap- 
plied to your hearts, will make them fair and 
beautiful. O, that I could persuade you to 
offer this prayer with all your hearts. 

But says Mary, " How do you know, sir, 
that God would do this great thing for me, if 
I should ask Him ?" Let me ask you, Mary, 
Do you feel that it would be a great thing to 
be cleansed by the blood of Christ ? Do you 
desire this above every thing else ? If you 
do, then I can answer your question, and this 
will be the third and last thing that I have to 
say about the text. 

III. The encouragement which we have to 
offer this prayer. 

We have the promise of God Himself. 
What, do you say, "has God promised to do 
this for me ?" Yes, for you. Do vou say, 
d3 



114 THE SNOW SEEM ON. 

" O, sir, where is that promise to be found ? 
I have never seen it." Then I will repeat it 
for you. Listen, for it is very important : 
" Thus saith the Lord, I will be inquired of 
by the house of Israel, to do this thing for 
them." That means nothing more nor less, 
than I will do this for every one that asks me, 
" Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, 
and ye shall be clean." 

Now you know that God always fulfills His 
promises. I never yet found a man who could 
say God made a promise but did not keep it. 
Far from it. I have found many who could 
say His promises are many and great, but He 
lias more than fulfilled them all. 

Now, children, will you not go to Him ? It 
is a simple prayer. You have to ask Him 
earnestly : " Wash me, O Lord, that I may 
be made whiter than the snow, for Jesus' 
sake;" and He will hear and answer this 
prayer. 

I wonder if I have made this plain, so that 
you can all understand it. I have tried to 
impress upon you one of the lessons which the 
snow teaches. When you see it falling in 



TEE SNOW SEEM ON. 115 

pure white flakes, not only think of this 
prayer, but offer it. When you see the earth 
covered with its white robes, think of those 
who stand before the throne of God in rai- 
ment pure and white. And then ask, Am I 
preparing to be one of their number \ 

Let me assure you, children, that if you and 
I, with our whole hearts, present this petition 
to God, day by day, in a little while we shall 
meet in yonder bright world, and there sing 
together the song of salvation ; saying, " Un- 
to Him who loved us, and gave Himself for 
us, and has washed us in His blood, and made 
us kings and priests to our God, be honor and 
glory, dominion and might forever. Amen." 
d4 



&k W ittlc Jfo* Jtante. 



Song ii. 15. " Take us the foxes, the little foxes that 
spoil the vines ; for our vines have tender grapes." 

AM sure that I have a text to-day, which 
some of you have never heard before. I 
think you would almost say that it is not 
in the Bible. Did you notice that I did 
not tell you, as I usually do, where the 
text is to be found. I wished to see if 
any one of you could tell. Let me repeat it 
again : " Take us the foxes, the little foxes 
that spoil the vines ; for our vines have tender 
grapes." Now, do any of you know in what 
book of the Bible that is to be found ? You 
don't know ? Well, I will tell you, for you 
might look a long time before you found it : 



THE LITTLE FOX IIl'NTEES. 117 

Song of Solomon, the 2d chapter and 15th 
verse, is the place. And as yon have already 
supposed, this is to be a fox sermon, " The lit- 
tle foxes, and how to catch them" 

I see Tommy and Charlie there, looking at 
each other as if they thought this must be a 
very interesting sermon, and I hope that I 
shall be able to set them and all the rest of 
you fox hunting, without even waiting till 
after the Sabbath. 

Let me remind you first ol all, that Christ 
spoke about foxes several times. One day 
when He was preaching out in the fields — I 
think it must have been about sunset — and as 
lie looked abroad He saw the birds flying to 
their nests, and perhaps a fox slyly peeping 
forth from its burrow, for you know they live 
under ground. He pointed to these, saying 
to the great multitude who had come to hear 
Him preach, " See how the birds of the air 
are flying to their nests as the evening shad- 
ows begin to lengthen. See how the cunning 
fox is peeping forth from his hole where he 
finds a secure shelter. But here am I, who 
taught the little birds to build their nests and 
5a 



IIS THE LITTLE FOX HUNTERS. 

the fox to provide for itself a home ; and yet 
because I am now the Son of Man, I have not 
where to lay my weary head. In this world 
— although I made it all — I have no home of 
my own ; I must beg this very night a lodg- 
ing from some of yon." "Well, that is one of 
the passages in which Christ speaks about 
foxes. But let me tell you something which 
may sound very strange to some of you, and 
that is, our text is another place where Christ 
is speaking, too. It is He who is saying, 
" Take us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil 
the vines ; for our vines have tender grapes." 
I know that I have told you that the text 
was in the Song of Solomon. But it was 
Christ who told Solomon to write this beauti- 
ful song. It is the only dialogue in the Bi- 
ble. Sometimes it is Christ who is speaking, 
and sometimes it is His church, but never 
Solomon, as Solomon. It is Solomon as a 
Christian, and every Christian should be able 
to speak of Christ and to Christ just as the 
king of Israel did, and should be able to hear 
Christ speaking to him every time he reads 
this beautiful language. 



THE LITTLE FOX HUNTERS. 110 

The Christian, in verse 10th, tells us what 
Christ said to him: "My beloved," that is 
Christ, " said unto me, Rise up my love, my 
lair one, and come away ; for lo ! the winter 
is past, the rain is over and gone, the flowers 
appear on the earth, the time of the singing 
of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle 
is heard in our land." That is the spring- 
time of the soul when a man or a child be- 
comes a Christian ; it is just like the passing 
away of a long and dreary winter. There is 
bright sunlight in the soul. In the cold and 
barren heart flowers begin to spring up ; such 
flowers as angels love to look upon ; flowers 
which will never wither, but bloom and ex- 
pand in the bright sunlight of heaven. 

Then Christ speaks again in the 14th verse : 
" O my dove," that is the affectionate name 
He calls you and me if we are His. " O my 
dove, that art in the clifts of the rock " — a 
timid bird, hiding away from danger — " let 
me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice ; 
for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is 
comely. Take us the foxes, the little foxes 



120 THE LITTLE FOX HUN TEES. 

that spoil the vines; for our vines have ten 
der grapes." 

You see, then, that Christ speaks to us just 
as much in the Song of Solomon, as in the 
Gospels. These are gracious words. But 
what do the j mean ? That is just what I am 
going to tell you, for this is one reason why I 
preach to the children, to teach them to un- 
derstand the " Word of God." I will there- 
fore tell you what is meant by the little foxes 
that spoil the vines, and how to catch them. 

First, then, I am to tell you 

I. What is meant by the little foxes. 

I never saw a fox but once. He was a sly, 
roguish-looking fellow. He did not look right 
ahead, as all honest animals, and honest men, 
too, do, but out of the corner of his eye, as if 
lie would make you believe that he was quite 
innocent, when all the time he was looking 
for an opportunity to do some mischief. 

In the land where the Bible was written 
there were a great many foxes, and they did 
much harm. Fences were made around the 
vineyards to keep out the cattle of the fields 
and the wild beasts of the woods, and they 



THE LITTLE FOX HUN TEES. 121 

answered a good purpose. But through the 
smallest holes, the foxes, especially the little 
foxes, would creep at night, and spoil the 
vines and destroy the tender grapes ; for they 
are very fond of grapes. In those vineyards 
they had a tower in the centre, where a man 
was placed to watch. If a robber came, or a 
wild beast managed to break through, the 
noise they made would alarm the watchman, 
and he could drive them off or call for help. 
Think of him watching through the long 
night, never closing his eyes for a moment, 
and supposing that all was right, going forth 
in the morning and finding here and there 
fine clusters of grapes upon the ground, or 
even some of the best young vines destroyed. 
Would it not be provoking % He w^ould say, 
" Those foxes, those little foxes, I must make 
some traps to catch them or they will destroy 
all the young vines." 

But you say, there are neither foxes nor 
vineyards here ; what good is there in telling 
us how to catch the foxes ? Let me tell you, 
children, that each one of you has a very fine 
and valuable vineyard, that it has many pre- 



122 THE LITTLE EOX HUNTERS. 

cious vines, which should bring forth rich 
clusters of. grapes, but the foxes, the little 
foxes, spoil some of the very best of them. I 
will now try and make this plain, for it is no 
use to preach to the children unless they can 
understand you. This vineyard is your heart. 
Do you say, How strange to call my heart a 
vineyard? It may seem strange to you, but 
let me explain it. 

You know a vineyard is a place where you 
expect to find fruit. So God expects to find 
fruit in our hearts. What kind of fruit ? He 
made your hearts to love and serve Him, and 
He expects to find this beautiful flower grow- 
ing there. At first only a small blossom, so 
that you can say, I hope I love Him ; I wish I 
did love Him ; I think I do love Him. And 
then this blossom should grow till it becomes 
fruit, so that you can say, I do love God, but 
O I long to love Him more. And then the 
little bud will expand, and expand, till in its 
ripeness and beauty He transplants both vine 
and vineyard to heaven. 

I say, this is what God expects, but it is not 
what He always finds. He looks into our 



THE LITTLE FOX HUNTERS. 123 

hearts, but alas ! children, He often finds 
nothing but weeds there — neither blossoms 
nor fruit. It is like a long-neglected garden, 
all run to weeds. This should not be so, for 
Christ has done a great deal for us, so that 
our hearts might bring forth good fruit to His 
honor and glory. 

You know that once we all belonged to Sa- 
tan rather than to Christ. And Satan is not 
merely a fox, but a great roaring lion, going 
about seeking whom he may devour. There 
is nothing which troubles Satan more than to 
see any good in our hearts. He would tram- 
ple all the vines under his feet, and rejoices 
very much when he has sown our hearts full 
of tares, so that no good seed can have a chance 
to grow. 

The first thing Christ had to do for us, was 
to bring us back from the power and domin- 
ion of Satan. Do you know the price He had 
to pay ? Nothing less than His own most 
precious blood. And now He comes to us 
with His mild and winning voice and says, 
" I have bought you with My blood that you 
may become a part of My vineyard. Will 



124 THE LITTLE FOX KUNTEES. 

you be Mine? I will root out all the foul 
weeds which are in your hearts, and plant in 
their stead choice ^vines, which shall bear 
good fruit." 

I told you in my last sermon all about this 
cleansing — how Christ can make your black 
hearts as white as snow ; and now I will tell '•■ 
you how Christ can make your hearts, after 
they are cleansed with His blood, fruitful 
vineyards. 

The other day, as I was returning from vis- 
iting one of the Sabbath school children, who 
is sick, I saw a man working in an orchard. 
It looked to me as if he was spoiling one of 
the trees. He had cut off some of the finest 
branches. I thought that would never do ; so 
I stepped in and asked him what he was 
about. " O," says he, " I'm grafting. These 
limbs which I have cut off would never bear 
good fruit, so I am taking them away and 
putting slips from good trees in their place.'' 
lie had in his hand a few small shoots, and 
after cutting into the tree, he placed them in 
the slits he had made, and then fastened them 
securely in their places. He told me that 



THE LITTLE FOX HUNTERS. 125 

this tree, which was bad by nature, would in 
a few years bring forth good fruit. 

This is just the way that Christ manages 
with us. He is the true vine. And He 
grafts our hearts with slips from Himself, so 
that we bear the same kind of fruit that Christ 
did when He was upon earth. I have told 
you of love to God, and love to Christ, which 
is the same thing. This is the first fruit 
which grows in our hearts after we have sub- 
mitted to Him. Then comes love to our fel- 
low men. You know, children, that this is a 
very selfish world. We are all apt to love 
ourselves far more than we ought, and not 
love others as much as we should. But when 
we become Christ's, we love Him more and 
more, and then love every body for Jesus' 
sake. 

Let me here tell you of a little boy who did 
not seem to care for any body but himself. 
He was very bright and intelligent. He 
went to the best schools, and became in time 
a very learned man. His friends were all 
proud of him. His father, as he listened to 
one of his speeches in the synagogue, for he 



126 THE LITTLE FOX HUNTERS. 

was a Jewish boy, could hardly refrain from 
saying, That is my son Saul, who has come 
back from Jerusalem to Tarsus. They call 
him now Rabbi Saul; that is, Saul the 
Teacher. But all his learning did him no 
good. At that time he hated Christians, and 
asked for letters that he might cast into prison 
all who called upon the name of Christ. But 
Christ obtained possession of his heart. And 
you wo ild no longer recognize in the disciple 
of Jesus, Saul the persecutor. The little 
shoot which Christ planted in his heart 
brought forth much fruit. 

He knew that there were a great many who 
had never heard of Jesus ; so he went to tell 
them of the Saviour he had found. They 
sometimes stoned him, sometimes cast him 
into prison, sometimes beat him with rods, 
but he loved them so that he still kept on, 
telling them about Christ, and entreating 
them to come to Him and be saved. All this 
was only the fruit from the vine which Christ 
had planted in his heart. And, children, you 
may become the same if you will only give 
your hearts to Christ. 



THE LITTLE FOX HUNTERS. 127 

But dear me, I do not wonder that some of 
you should be ready to ask, What, sir, have 
you done with the foxes ? Now, I must tell 
you about them, and you will understand it 
all the better if I give their names. 

There are a great many very little foxes 
which no bars nor bolts, no hedge nor fenGe 
can keep out of your hearts. They are called 
wicked thoughts, and they do spoil the tender 
grapes. They sometimes come one at a time, 
and sometimes they come in great numbers, 
as it were, chasing each other through the 
vineyard. But in whatever manner they 
come they do a great deal of mischief. You 
all know what I mean. It is impossible to 
be good when our hearts are filled with wick- 
ed thoughts. 

I will tell you about one of these little foxes 
that came into my vineyard the other day, 
and came very near destroying a whole bunch 
of grapes. It was just after I had been 
preaching to the children the last time. This 
little fox said to me, " It is no use preaching 
to the children. You do not interest them. 
They do not listen. You had better give it 



128 THE LITTLE FOX IIUNTEKS. 

up." And I was very foolish, for I let him 
run about for almost a week without setting 
a trap to catch him. "Well, one day I heard 
of a little boy, who is not here to-day — he is at 
home very sick — who said, that he had been 
very much interested in that very sermon, and 
that he was trying to be a better boy. So I 
said this little fox will trouble me no more. 
I will catch him and kill him. And I think 
I have finished him. 

But another of the little foxes which spoil 
the grapes is called Pride. He is a cunning 
little fellow. He nestles in the heart, in some 
warm corner and makes us do all manner of 
naughty things. He makes us think that we 
are better than other people, and sometimes 
causes us to say wicked things, which hurts 
their feelings. 

Then there is Mr. Deceit. Many a good 
bunch of grapes he has spoiled. That is the 
little fox which makes us pretend, when we 
have done wrong, that we know nothing about 
it ; that some one else must have done it. 
There is nothing so mean as this. Boys love 
to think that they are almost men ; but there 



THE LITTLE FOX HU5TTEE8. 129 

is nothing more unmanly than to suffer any 
boy to be blamed for what you have done, 
and perhaps to be punished for it. It is bad 
enough to do wrong, but it makes it twice as 
bad not to confess it, and perhaps cause some 
one eke to suffer the punishment. 

Then there is another little fox, and the 
last one which I shall mention. He is a 
cousin or some near relation to Mr. Deceit. 
His name is Evil-speaking. He destroys 
much good and makes a great deal of trouble 
in. the world. He puts neighbor against 
neighbor, and friend against friend. And 
this destroys our peace and comfort. We 
speak evil about others, and others speak evil 
things to us about our friends, and it makes 
us distrust them, even when we have reason 
to know that we did not hear the truth ; and 
we cannot be so kind to them as we otherwise 
would, and cannot love them as much. You 
see how this prevents the vine which Christ 
has planted in our hearts from bearing fruit. 

Now, children, with these little foxes in 
your hearts, you can neither become very 
good, nor do much good. If you look into 



130 TIIE LITTLE FOX HUNTERS. 

your hearts, you will all find some of them 
there, and perhaps others which I have not 
mentioned. I have told you where the foxes 
are to be found, and how you may know 
them. Now I will tell you 

II. How to catch them, and kill them. 

It is very wicked indeed to take away the 
life of any thing which God has made, unless 
it is good for food, or is a destructive animal. 

I once saw the picture of a little girl, with 
a dead bird in her hand. She was showing 
it to her mother as if she wondered why.it 
would not open its eyes and sing as it used to. 
And her mother seemed to be telling her that 
the life was gone ; that no one could make it 
live again but God. He only can give life, 
and it is wicked for us, without some good 
cause, to take away the life He has given, from 
even the meanest of His creatures. 

But it is perfectly proper to kill those ani- 
mals which would take away our lives if they 
had a chance, or which would destroy the la- 
bur of the husbandman. And for this reason 
it is perfectly proper to kill the foxes, even 
the little foxes. They look quite innocent 



THE LITTLE FOX HUNTERS. 131 

when they are small, but they are of the same 
nature as the great foxes. They will soon 
grow to be quite as cunning, and their teeth 
quite as sharp. 

But it is very hard to catch the kind of 
foxes of which I have been speaking ; they 
are so cunning. Indeed, you cannot do it 
yourselves. JSTor does Christ ask you; He 
says, Take us the foxes. That is as if He had 
said, You and I will go together and catch 
these foxes. He will help you. He is ready 
to help you by night or by day. 

The first thing necessary to catch them is 
watchfulness. Be always on the look-out for 
them. Do not think that they will never 
come, or that it will only be when you have 
grown up and gone into the world to meet its 
temptations. They are in your hearts now, 
and you must watch for the very first mani- 
festation, or they will become too mighty for 
you. Little sins soon become great sins. Re- 
member that many a boy has been ruined, 
both for time and eternity, by reading just 
one improper book. It let loose a whole train 
of evil thoughts in his mind, which grew 



132 THE LITTLE FOX IIUNTEKS. 

stronger and stronger, till lie ran in the ways 
of evil with greedy feet. O children, watch 
those evil thoughts which rise in your hearts, 
and cry at once to Christ, Come dear Sav- 
iour, and help me to take the foxes, the little 
foxes, ere they spoil the vines. 

The next thing you have to do, to catcli 
and kill the foxes, is to pray. Pray at all 
times. It is not enough to ask God when you 
retire at night, to forgive you your sins, and 
when you rise in the morning, for Him to 
watch over you through the day and keep 
you from evil. You must learn to "pray 
without ceasing." When an angry thought 
rises in your heart, when a sharp and cruel 
word, which would wound the heart of a com- 
panion, comes to your lips, just breathe a si- 
lent prayer to Christ to take away the wicked 
thought and give you grace to withhold the 
cruel word, and soon you will have no cause 
to fear these foxes* 

When children once learn to pray in this 
manner, I have no fear for them. At home, 
or abroad, under the eye of their parents, or 
away from their control, they will be able to 



THE LITTLE FOX HUNTERS.' 133 

resist evil. The tender vines will not be de- 
stroyed, but will soon bring forth rich clusters 
of grapes. 

Think then of these words as the words of 
Christ addressed to yon. Become plants in 
His vineyard, and let not the foxes destroy 
the vines, when He is saying to yon, " Take 
ns the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the 
vines ; for our vines have tender grapes." 



joto ta Urag. 



Luke xi. 1. " Lord, teach us to pray." 

)Na cold wintry day, a little pale-faced 
girl stood shivering at the door of a 
great house in the city. Many people 
passed by, but no one seemed to notice 
her, although she looked sad, indeed, 
for big tears stood in her bright blue 
eyes. She was a sweet, and timid child, not 
always poor. She could look back to the time 
when she had a pleasant home— when she did 
not know what it was to feel either cold or 
hunger. She had a good, kind father, and 
loving brothers and sisters. 

But a sad day came — every one in the 
house moved about just as still as they could, 



HOW TO PRAY. 135 

and when they had occasion to speak, it was 
only in a faint whisper. At last, the children 
were all called into their father's room. He 
lay upon his bed, his cheeks pale and wasted, 
and his eyes already beginning to look glassy. 
With a great effort he put out his thin hand, 
and placing it upon the head of each one of 
his children, in turn, implored a blessing upon 
them, and then telling them to be good, and 
meet him in that bright world to which he 
was going, he closed his eyes, and with one 
long-drawn sigh, his spirit left the body. He 
was dead. 

A few days after this, the widowed mother, 
and fatherless children, together with a few 
kind friends, followed him to the village, 
which was his native place, and laid him in 
the grave to sleep his last sleep. 

After they returned to their city home, 
they found to their sorrow, that they were no 
longer rich, but poor ; indeed so poor that 
they must leave their present abode, and go 
out into the world, to earn their bread by 
their own labor. I will not tell you how 
sickness entered their humble home, how one 



136 now TO PRAY. 

after another, the children were called away 
to join their lather, till at last the poor mother, 
worn out by sorrow and suffering, was laid 
upon a sick and dying bed. Then the little 
girl was forced to go out and seek relief for 
her mother. 

It was this that had taken her out that cold 
day, and she was trying to find courage to 
ring, and make known her wants, at the great 
house where we left her standing. Again and 
again does she put her hand to the bell, and 
take it away without ringing. But as she 
stands and hesitates, the door opens, and a 
lady with a beautiful little girl, warmly and 
richly clad, comes out and looks kindly upon 
the poor shivering child. Their hearts are 
moved by her look of suffering, so they kindly 
take her into their warm home, and listen to 
her tale of sorrow. I wish I could tell you 
how she begs for her poor sick mother, forget- 
ful of her own hunger. Her looks as well as 
her words are imploring. She gains confi- 
dence by the kindness shown to her, and as 
they bestow upon her something to relieve her 
mother's wants, could you have heard her ex- 



now TO PRAY. 137 

pressions of gratitude, I am sure yon would 
have done just what the kind lady and her 
child did — weep. 

My object in telling you this story, is to 
show you what grayer is. That little girl 
prayed. The story she told of her mother's 
wants and sufferings, and her appeal for help, 
was her prayer. She asked for what she 
wanted very much, and she asked it very ear- 
nestly. Only she asked from a creature like 
herself, whereas, when we pray, we pray to 
God. But we will leave the little girl now 
to go home with a happy heart to her sick 
mother, while I tell you three things about 
the text : 

I. To whom we should pray. 

II. How we should pray. 

III. For what we should pray. 

First, then, I am to tell you to whom we are 
to pray. 

Do you know, children, that we are all very 
poor ; indeed, so poor, that we have nothing 
which we can call our own ? The clothes you 
wear, the food you eat, the air you breathe, 
is not yours. They have only been lent you 



138 HOW TO PRAY. 

for a little while by the good God who made 
you, and who still keeps you in being. 

You would think that a very naughty, wick- 
ed child, who should receive, day by day, many 
good things from its kind parents, and yet 
should never once say, Thank yon, father, 
thank yon, mother, but take them just as if 
it deserved them, and had a right to them. 
Yet this is just the way that many children, 
and I am sorry to say, grown-up people, live. 
They do not see God, and therefore they nev- 
er think of Him, and never thank Him for 
what He gives them. I hope there is no one 
so wicked here. I should be afraid to live in 
the same house with such a man or such a 
child. For God is angry with such people 
every day. It is only because He is so kind, 
that He does not take away from them all the 
good things He has given them. 

James and John were brothers. Their 
father had occasion to go abroad to a distant 
land to be absent some years. There was a 
large and beautiful portrait of their father in 
the palor, which James loved to look at very 
much, because it made him remember his 



now TO PRAY 139 

father. But John never liked to go into that 
room at all, and when he did, would not 
cast even a glance at his father's portrait 
Almost every month the two brothers receiv- 
ed rich and costly presents, just alike. As 
soon as they were received, James would sit 
down and write his father a long letter, thank- 
ing him for his present, and telling how he 
remembered him, and longed for his return. 
But John never took the trouble to write, 
and when asked by his brother to do so, 
would answer, " What is the use ? I receive 
just as many presents as you do, without all 
this trouble." 

At last the father returned, and sent for his 
two sons. Then he told them to bring the 
presents which he had sent them, which they 
did. Opening his trunk, he added to those 
which James already had, many others more 
beautiful still. But to John he said, " My 
son, I have brought nothing home for you, nor 
are these any longer yours. You were not 
grateful for all my kindness, and I cannot give 
such gifts to an ungrateful son." Do yon not 
say it served him right, the ungrateful boy ? 



14:0 now TO PEAY. 

.riut, children, there are a great many, both 
old and young, who act like this ungrateful 
boy toward their heavenly Father. All that 
they have, they received from Him, and yet 
have never once thanked Him for it. 

This is one reason why we should pray to 
God, and this is one part of prayer — thanks- 
giving — returning thanks for what He has 
given ns. If you have kind parents, God has 
given you them. If you have a happy, pleas- 
ant home, God has given you that, also. If 
you have food and clothing, and all the com- 
forts of life, God has given you these. Have 
you not then great reason to say, " Thanks be 
unto God for all the benefits He hath bestow- 
ed upon us T' 

But another reason why we should pray 
to God, is, He only can supply your wants. 

Had the little girl of whom I told you, 
gone to some one as poor as herself, she could 
not have received any relief. They might 
have wept with her, and expressed their sor- 
row, but this would have been all they could 
have done. And thus is it with us. Your 



now TO PRAY. 141 

parents cannot of themselves provide yon with 
food. It all comes from God. 

Many years ago, in the land of Judea, be- 
cause of the wickedness of the people, God 
said to them by his prophet, " There shall be 
no rain for the space of three years and six 
months." Day after day the snn journeyed 
through a cloudless sky. Instead of cool 
breezes springing up in the evening, it was 
the warm winds of the great desert which 
swept over the land. The grass in the fields 
withered, the leaves dropped off the trees, al- 
though it was summer, and there was a great 
famine throughout all the land. 

One day, when the sun was very hot, an 
old man with tottering steps, was seen ap- 
proaching a humble little hut, where dwelt a 
poor widow and her only son. "While he stood 
by the door, before knocking, he heard the 
widow say to her son, " There is only meal 
enough left to make one little cake ; we will 
bake it, and then lie down together and 
die," 

The prophet, however, knocked at the door. 



l-kl now TO PEAT. 

and the pious widow welcomed him in tho 
name of the Lord. 

He then told her that he was faint from 
hunger and his long journey, and asked for 
something to eat. She had a kind heart, and 
would gladly have assisted the prophet, but 
alas ! she had to tell him her circumstances. 

Never fear, said the prophet, make me a 
cake, the Lord will provide. She did so, and 
what was her surprise, when day after day 
she continued to bake from the little meal, and 
it never grew less, till at last the rain came 
and there was abundance of bread in the 
land. 

Who was it that multiplied the widow's 
meal ? Why God, to be sure. No one else 
could have done it. Well, this is the way that 
God provides for us. 

It is almost spring. In a few weeks you 
will see the farmer turning up the rich fur- 
rows, and casting in the seed. One bag of 
grain will plant a large field. But when har- 
vest comes, for this bag of corn he will carry 
home wagon load after wagon load. Who 
makes it increase so ? Why God — He sends 



now TO PEAY. 143 

the rain, the dew, and the sunshine. This is 
the way He feeds us every year. How right 
and proper is it, then, to pray to him, " Give 
us this day our daily bread." 

But another reason why we should pray to 
God, is, He always hears our prayers. 

Could I take you with me to-day away over 
the seas, to that great country called China, 
we would see many strange looking people, 
and curious looking houses. Could we enter 
one of these houses, we would find a queer 
looking little image, made of wood, or iron, 
or brass, and see not only children, but men 
and women bowing down before it, and pray- 
ing to it, just as if it could hear, and give 
them what they prayed for. But in this happy 
land, we know better than that. u It has eyes, 
but it sees not, ears, but it hears not, hands, 
but it cannot handle, feet, but it cannot walk." 
And we know too, that God, the living God, 
can hear us when we cry to Him. Let me il- 
lustrate this, by telling you a story. 

There was a good little girl once who stray- 
ed away i nto the woods to gather flowers. On 
she went with tripping footsteps, plucking 



144 now TO PKAY. 

flowers, as she said to herself, for dear mama, 
till she grew weary and thought it was time 
to return home. But, alas, she had lost her 
way, and instead of going toward home, went 
farther and farther from it. Then she called 
for her mother as loud as her little voice 
could, but there was no one who heard her 
feeble cry. Foot-sore and weary, and withal 
very much frightened, for it was now getting 
to be quite dark, she sat down under a tree, 
and cried. As she felt like going to sleep, she 
remembered what her good mother had taught 
her, about God being ever near and ready to 
hear us when we pray ; so she knelt down upon 
the cold ground, and prayed God to watch 
over her, and take her home to her mother. 
This was simple and child-like, but it is just 
the way God loves to have us feel. 

Alarmed at home, because their daughter 
did not return, they began to search for her 
in the woods, and God directed them to where 
the little girl was. They found her sleeping 
sweetly under a tree, with a beautiful smile 
upon her face. Taking her gently up in their 
arms, they carried her safely home. When 



now TO PEAT. Ii5 

she awoke, looking around her rather sur- 
prised for a moment, she said, " Mother, I 
knew Pie would ; I asked God to take me 
home, and He heard me, and has." 

Don't you think the little girl was right. 
Her mother could not hear her feeble cry, but 
the great God who has said that he is near to 
all who call upon Him, heard her and guided 
those who were searching for her to the very 
spot where she was. 

Yes, children, God can hear us when we 
pray. He is not far from each one of us. 
And this is another reason why we should 
pray to Him. 

Some years ago a company of men sailed 
from England in a good strong ship, to try 
and find what is called the Northwest Pass- 
age. To do this, they must sail far away to 
the North, where perpetual snow covers the 
earth, and the waters are frozen into great 
mountains of ice. They expected to be gone 
some years, and went provided for this. But 
nothing was heard of them for some time, and 
people became very anxious for their safety. 
They knew that their provisions must be ex- 



140 now TO PRAY. 

hausted, and that it would take months to 
reach them. You see, their friends, although 
they had the heart to help them, were so far 
off that they could not reach them in time. 
They perished in the arctic snows, but how or 
where those brave men died, will never be 
known till the people of all lands and nations 
meet around the great White Throne. Chil- 
dren, if you live to be men and women, you 
may some time be in sore distress, and have 
no earthly friend near. But never forget that 
God is always near, and that you can cry to 
Him, and lie can deliver you out of all your 
distresses. Let me here tell you how a little 
boy reminded his mother of this. 

He was the son of a good man, a minister 
of the Gospel, but his father died and left 
them in destitute circumstances. One day 
his mother was very much cast down. Their 
money was all gone, and she did not know 
how she would be able to provide bread for 
her little boy and herself. As she thought of 
this, and the dark future came beiore her 
mind, she sat down and wept. For some 
time the little boy stood looking anxiously at 



HOW TO P R A Y . 14:7 

Lis mother. At last lie drew near, and put- 
ting his little hand in hers, said, "Mather, is 
God dead f n " Eo, no, my son," she answer- 
ed, "I had almost forgotten that your father 
was His servant. He will take eare of us, 
for He has promised to provide for all those 
who put their trust in Him." And God did 
provide for them. He raised up kind friends 
for the widow and her son, and they never 
knew what want was. It is thus that God is 
nigh to all them that call upon Him. To 
whom then should we pray but to God? 
Now we have come to the second thing I was 
to tell you. 

2. How we are to pray. 

A great many years ago some wicked peo- 
ple rebelled against their king, and said that 
they would no longer obey his laws. The 
king, although kind and good, said they must 
be punished, for the laws which they had dis- 
3beyed were for the good of all. The punish- 
ment was death. They were doomed to die. 
And now they were right sorry for their wick- 
edness, and said, " Oh, if some one could be 
found who would plead for us, the kin^ might 
e2 



148 HOW TO PEAY. 

spare our lives. Bui; who would go for tlieni ? 
They were afraid to go themselves to the king, 
because they knew that he was angry with 
them. At length some one said, " If we could 
only get the king's son to go for us, the king 
loves him so much, and has just made procla- 
mation that whatever he asks shall be granted 
to him." So they sent for the king's son, and 
told him their sad tale, and how sorry they 
were for what they had done. Upon their 
bended knees, they besought him to go and 
beseech the king to pardon them. His heart 
was moved to pity, and he went to his father, 
and asked him lor his sake to pardon those 
men condemned to death. The father not 
only heard him patiently, but also said, 
" There is their pardon ; go and take them 
out of prison." With a joyful heart, he 
hastened to the prison, knocked off their 
heavy chains, and told them to depart, and 
sin no more. 

Now, children, you and I are like these 
poor prisoners. God is our King. When we 
sin, we break His law. We were condemned 
to die. And God was so angry with us that 



now to p n ^ r . 14 j 

we dared not even ask him to forgive us. 
But Christ has come, and says to you and mc 
in this good Book, " I will go and intercede 
for you. I will beseech My Father to pardon 
you. Yea, My Father, Himself, will hear 
you, if you will ask in My name" 

And now, when we pray, it is in Christ's 
name. We always say in our prayers, for 
Jesus' sake. Therefore in telling yon how to 
pray, this is the first thing : You must pray in 
the name of Christ ; and remember that 
Christ is with God, the Father, praying for 
us. But again : 

Yon must pray in faith. 

I have sometimes seen a child go to its 
father or mother, and ask for something it did 
not expect to get. It either knew that its pa- 
rents could not or would not grant what it 
was asking. This was wrong and wicked. 
"And so it is wrong for ns to ask God to give 
us any thing, thinking all the time that He 
-yinnot, or will not bestow it upon ns. I am 
afraid that this is the way a great many pray. 
They do not expect to get what they ask for. 
Children, when yon pray yon should feel sure 



150 now TO PRAY. 

that God can give yon every thing yon need. 
Yon know every thing is His. There are a 
great many things which your parents can- 
not give you. But God is so rich that He 
can give you every thing it is best you should 
have. 

One cold winter, a few years ago, in the 
city of TJtica, a minister called upon a poor 
family. As he was entering the door he heard 
a little child crying, and asking its mother for 
bread. But the poor woman, with a sad 
heart, had to say, " Hush, my child, I have 
no bread to give you." 

But when you need any thing as much as 
that poor child needed bread, and cry to God 
for it, He will never give you such an answer. 
lie can give you all you need, so you can al- 
ways ask with confidence, that is, believing 
that God is both able and willing to answer 
your prayers. But again : 

You must not only ask in faith, but yo'l, 
must also ask in earnest, that is, with your 
heart. 

A child only six years old, said to her Sun- 
day school teacher, " When we kneel down in 



HOW TO PEAT. 151 

the school room to pray, it seems as if my 
heart talked." That child had learned how to 
pray. 

So was it with the little girl I told you 
about, who went to the lady's door, begging. 
She wanted what she asked for very much in- 
deed. Every word that she spoke, came from 
the heart. 

We may repeat words to God, but that is 
not prayer, unless we feel what we say. 

If John should come to me and ask for a 
book, and I could see by his manner that he 
did not care at all for the book, but had only 
come because his mother or some one else had 
sent him, I don't think I would give him the 
book, because I should know that if he took 
it home, he would not read it. But if I should 
see that he wanted the book very much, and 
was anxious to read and learn, I would say 
at once, " John, there's the book, and wel- 
come. Come again when you want another." 

Kow, this is just the way that God gives the 
good things which He has ; only to those who 
ask in earnest. If you ask because your pa- 
rents or Sabbath school teachers told you 
e4 



152 HOW TO PRAY. 

that you should pray, and not because yon 
feel your need of them, God will not heed 
your prayers. 

This, then, is the way we should pray. In 
the name of Christ, believing that God can 
give us what we ask — feeling our need of 
the things for which we ask, or what is the 
same, asking with our hearts. And now we 
come to the last thing that I was to tell you, 
namely : 

3. For what we should pray. 

And first we are to pray 

(1.) That God would teach us how to pray. 

That is the prayer of the text, " Lord teach 
us to pray." It was one of His disciples who 
asked Jesus this, and you know that they 
were ministers. So you see, children, that 
God has to teach ministers to pray. They 
cannot pray aright unless He does. And if 
lie has to teach them, He is the only one who 
can teach you. This, then, is the first thing 
you are to ask, " Lord, teach me to pray." The 
second thing is, that 

(2.) God would make you sorry for your 
sins. 



now TO PEAT. 153 

We all sin. The great difference between 
the good and the bad is, that the one are sor- 
ry for their sins, while the others are not. 

Two little boys were playing together in 
the garden one day. Upon a little dwarf 
tree there were some pears which in the sun 
looked yellow and ripe. Their father had 
told them that they must not pick those pears ; 
that when they were quite ripe they should 
have some of them. But the pears looked so 
tempting that they forgot what their father 
had said, and each of them put forth his hand 
and picked one, and ran oif into some out of 
the way place to eat it. It tasted sweet at 
first, but soon they began to think of what 
their father had told them. A little voice, 
too, kept whispering all the time in their 
hearts, " That was wicked ; you have done 
wrong." And this made the little boys sad. 

One of them thought how his father would 
punish them, when he found it out. The 
other thought only of his wickedness in dis- 
obeying his father. The one said, " I will not 
tell father ; perhaps he will never find it out." 
But the other said, " I cannot be happy till 



154 now to rEAY. 

my father has forgiven me ;" and went and 
told him what he had done. " My son," said 
the father, " I forgive you, but I must punish 
you. You must not go out any more to-day, 
although it is Saturday." And the boy an- 
swered, " It is right ; you are very kind to 
forgive me." While his other son concealed 
from his father what he had done, and did 
not feel sorry for his disobedience. 

We are all like the wicked boy. We do 
not feel sorry for our sins, and would do them 
again, and again, if we were not afraid of the 
punishment. And God only can make us 
truly sorry for them. He will do it if we ask 
Him. But again : 

(3.) We should pray to have our sins 
blotted out by the peace-speaking blood of 
Christ. 

We read in the last book in the Bible, that 
in the Day of Judgment the hooks will be 
opened. One of these books is called, the 
Book of God's Remembrance. In that book 
every sin which you have ever committed is 
recorded. There they stand against you ; and 
will be read before the whole universe, unless 



now TO PEAT. 15 ') 

they are blotted out. There is nothing winch 
will take them away but the blood of Christ. 
When we ask God to forgive us our sins, and 
He answers our prayer, Christ takes his hand 
which was pierced by the cruel nails that fix- 
ed Him to the cross, and draws it down the 
page which has your name at the top, and the 
long list of your sins disappears. After that, 
there are no sins charged against you. For 
what the recording angel writes there by day, 
when you go to God at night, and pray, For 
Jesus' sake, forgive me the sins of this day, 
Christ blots them out. So that there will be 
nothing to condemn you in the Day of Judg- 
ment. Happy must they be whose sins are 
thus forgiven. And it is a blessed truth, chil- 
dren, that they can be forgiven, if we will 
only ask. 

These are only a few of the things for which 
we should pray. It would make a very long 
sermon, indeed, if I should try to tell you 
them all. I have surely told you enough, to 
have you desire to learn to pray. You are 
not too young. God hears little children 
when they pray. When once a child has 



156 HOW TO PEAY. 

learned this, it is safe both for this world, and 
that which is to come. If you know how 
to pray, you will be shielded from tempta- 
tion in life; and when life is done, you will 
enter heaven; for the Christian enters heaven 
by prayer. 



%\t (felmzsm WidoxQ. 



1 Cor. xv. 57. " Thanks be to God, which giveth us 
the victory." 

) OME years ago I attended a grand con- 
cert in the city of New York. It was 
in the old Broadway Tabernacle, which 
was then one of the largest buildings 
in the city. The musicians were so 
numerous that they reminded me of 
the great choir in Solomon's Temple, which 
had Asaph for its leader. "When they played 
upon their instruments of music, the sweet 
harmony rolled through the building like the 
sound of many waters. 

It was a very strange piece they performed 
that night. The composer would only suffer 



158 THE GLORIOUS VICTORY. 

them to use it upon the condition that pro- 
grammes were presented to the audience with 
an explanation. I think it was called a de- 
scriptive symphony, and was meant to de- 
scribe by sound, peace and war, and the re- 
joicing after the victory. 

Having carefully read over the explanation, 
I waited rather impatiently to hear how they 
could give expression in music to these differ- 
ent scenes. Soon they commenced. The 
notes were low and sweet — full of melody ; 
just like the sounds you hear on a beautiful 
summer evening, when the very stars seem to 
be singing as they shine, and all nature seems 
to be saying, "Praise the Lord, for He is 
good ; His mercy endureth forever.'' Then 
there seemed to be a change in the key, and 
a quicker movement in the time. It was like 
the hum of active, but peaceful industry. 
You seemed to hear the joyful song of the 
laborer who delights in his task, and the song 
of the maiden louder than the buzzing of her 
spinning wheel. 

But by-and-by there seemed to be notes of 
alarm, as when the first tidings of some ca- 



THE GLOHIOUS VIC TOBY. 159 

lamity reaches a place. It was the mingling 
of hopes and fears in sound. But gradually 
the notes of fear and sorrow prevailed. War 
had been declared. The hum of labor was 
still heard, but there was no cheerful songs 
mingling with it. Tou could hear now and 
then the muster call to arms. 

The preparations for departure were now 
heard. At last the time for parting came. 
What a blending of sounds did we then hear. 
Low, tender farewells, which might never be 
repeated, and great bursts of anguish, which 
seemed almost to break the heart. Some- 
times the sounds seemed to be the inspiration 
of hope, as if they had lived through the 
months of separation, and were welcoming 
them home again. Sometimes it was the ex- 
pression of foreboding fears, as if they felt 
that it was a last farewell. The musical in- 
struments under the hands of skillful players 
almost seemed to speak, and even feel. 

Then you could hear the call to march, and 
the heavy tramp of armed men. Fainter and 
fainter grew the sounds, till at last it seemed 



1G0 TIIE GLORIOUS VICTORY. 

as though, they came from a great distance, 
and then died away. There was a pause. 

When they began again it was a perfect 
chaos of sounds, but gradually they became 
more harmonious. It was the bustling pre- 
paration for battle. Then came the march of 
a mighty host, under which the very earth ■, 
seemed to tremble. Now might be heard the 
rattle of musketry, and once :'n a while the 
booming of a cannon. These volleys became 
more frequent, and the strokes on the great 
drum more numerous, till they seemed to be 
all mingled into horrible din and clamor. 
The instruments seemed to speak. Here 
were shouts of victory ; yonder, shouts of ter- 
ror and dismay. 

The noise of the cannon and musketry died 
away, and shrieks and groans were heard in 
their stead. Slow were the measures and 
heavy the tramp, as if they were carrying the 
wounded from the field of battle. Taen, the 
sweet though solemn voices of fie night were 
heard, but it was night on the battle field. 
The quiet was broken, the harmony disturbed 



THE GL0EI0U8 VIC TO BY. 161 

by the sad sound of human distress. There 
was another pause. 

Then came the rejoicing, after the victory ; 
the march toward home, which I will not de- 
scribe. Then came the meeting. They were 
back in the quiet homes they had left. There 
were tender, tearful welcomes, the expressions 
of joy. Then came the grand " Te Deum," 
as if all had gone to the great cathedral to 
return their thanks to God for the victory. 
JBut now and then the ear would catch a note 
so sad that the tears would come nnbidden to 
the eyes. It seemed to express a widow's or 
a maiden's anguish, whose Irusband or lover 
had been left dead on the distant battle field. 
These sorrowful notes told of the great ex- 
pense at which the victory had been won. 

It was a wonderful composition, and a won- 
derful performance. 

I know that yon are all wondering why I 
should tell you about that concert, for it can 
have nothing at all to do with the text. I 
wondered myself why this passage of Scrip- 
ture should have brought it to my mind, for I 
had not thought of it before in some years. 



102 THE GLOUIOUS VICTORY. 

Let ns read tlie text again, and see if we can 
find out the connection : " Thanks be unto 
God, who giveth us the victory" Ah, yes, 
the last word is the key to the whole — the vic- 
tory. 

Do you see now why I thought of that long 
forgotten circumstance ? No % Well, I must 
try and tell you. 

In thinking of the victory spoken of in my 
text, I thought of other victories, and how 
there was always sorrow as well as rejoicing, 
connected with them. And then I thought, 
what a glorious victory this must be when all 
can join in saying, " Thanks be unto God, 
who giveth us the victory." No orphans to 
mourn the loss of a father. No father and 
mother to mourn the loss of a brave son. No 
soldier to mourn the loss of a comrade, who 
perhaps fell dead while fighting at his side. 
All rejoice, but none are sad, because of this 
victory. It is a victory in which I hope you 
all will share a part. 

You know, children, that a victory is get- 
ting the better of an enemy. You cannot get 
a victory unless there is some enemy to over* 



THE GLOEIOUS VICTORY. 163 

come ; so although this sermon is to be about 
" The Glorious Victory," I will have to tell 
yon first 

I. The foes we have to conquer. 

Ton know that the text is to be found al- 
most at the end of one of the longest chapters 
in the New Testament. It was Paul who 
wrote this part of the Bible, and this chapter 
is one of the most sublime in the whole book. 
I will tell yon why : There are things in it 
which yon can find no where else. 

I have been in large buildings, the walls of 
which were all covered with books. On this 
side were books which were written hnndrecls 
of years ago ; and on that, books written long 
before. There were the works of Plato, and 
Socrates, and Homer, in Greek ; of Yirgil, 
and Cicero, and Caasar, in Latin, and a host of 
other men's works, who were considered very 
wise. But all these books together were not 
worth this one chapter. With all their wis- 
dom, they did not know how Death was to be 
conquered — how the Grave was to give back 
all the treasures which had been laid there. 

Why, would you believe it, children, some 



164 THE. GLORIOUS VICTOEY. 

of these wise men looked for a spring, the 
waters of which would make them immortal. 
They climbed high mountains to see if it was 
not hid upon their tops ; they explored broad 
valleys and sandy dererts, trying to find it. 
But when they came back from their wan- 
derings, they had to say, We have not found 
it. 

Others said that the juice of some plants 
would make them live forever. And so they 
collected plants and herbs ; they shut them- 
selves up in secret places, to extract the juice. 
But all their labor did not profit. Their 
friends died — they died. They had not heard 
of the gracious Saviour, who said of Himself, 
" I am the water of life ; I am the balm of 
Gilead." They knew nothing of all this. 

But this chapter tells us how Death is to 
be conquered, and how the dead are to come 
forth out of their graves. Do you know how 
dark the grave looked when you saw your 
mother or father, your baby brother, or little 
sister, laid there. O, it seemed so cruel to 
cover them up in the cold, damp ground, so 
that you could see them no more. You hate 



THE GLORIOUS VICTORY. 1G5 

to think that before long, you, too, must die, 
and be put there. And it would be all dark- 
ness, all sorrow, if we had not this blessed 
book. We would ask, Shall I ever see these 
dear ones again ? and receive no answer. 

Said a little girl to a minister, who found 
her weeping by her mother's grave, " O, sir, 
will mother never come back to me ; she has 
been so long away % I know she is here, for I 
saw them put her down there ; but although 
I come and call her every day, she does not 
answer me." 

Now, what do you think the good man told 
her? "Ify child," said he, "your mother 
must sleep there a great many years. You 
cannot awake her, but by-and-by, Jesus will 
call- both you and her, and you will come 
forth in beautiful garments from the tomb." 

How did he know this ? Why, he had read 
this chapter. It tells us that all the genera- 
tions of the past are to rise from the dead 
— the young and the old, the rich and the 
poor. They will hear the voice of the " Son 
of Man ;" and Death, the great enemy which 
took them away and hid them in the grave, 



166 THE GLORIOUS VICTORY. 

thinking to keep them there forever, must let 
them go, and they shall come forth, to die no 
more. Death is the great enemy over which 
we are to gain the victory. 

But I see you are wondering how we are 
going to conquer Death, since Death first 
conquers us all. The youngest of you know 
that when lie comes into our homes, we can- 
not resist him. If he lay his hand upon the 
little babe on its mother's breast, a mother's 
tears and entreaties will not allure him from 
his purpose. If lie lay his hand on a kind 
father or a loving mother, the children may 
pray, but he heeds them not — the father or 
mother must go. Thus we have to live in 
tear, not knowing when he will come for us. 
It is true, children, that he is a mighty de- 
stroyer, lie commenced with the pious Abel, 
and he lias reigned till the present. He took 
all the prophets and apostles. He slew Da- 
vid, who conquered the great giant ; and all 
the great and mighty ones of the past. Soon 
we, too, must fall under his power. 

Now, can you tell me how Death came in- 
to this world ? Was it not by sin ? You 



THE GLOEIOUS VICTORY 167 

know what God said to Aaam in Eden : "In 
the day thou eatest thereof thou sliait surely 
die." Just as soon as he broke God's com- 
mand — for that is sin — lie began to die. And 
it is just for the same reason that we must 
die. We all have sinned. If we can only 
conquer sin, we shall gain a victory over 
Death. Let me see if I can make this plain 
by telling you two stories, which you will all 
be able to understand. 

There was once a rich man, wno nvea in a 
very fine house, which was his pride and the 
admiration of all who beheld it. It was not 
situated upon the wayside, like most houses. 
You had to go up a long avenue, shaded with 
beautiful trees, to reach it. And what a 
charming spot it was. Around the house was 
a fine garden, in which were flowers both rich 
and rare. Here and there were fountains of 
water, which shot up in crystal streams and 
fell in misty showers. Within, there was 
every thing that could please and delight. It 
was a splendid home. Many a one envied its 
possessor. But now I wish you to come with 
me and see the owner of this beautiful man- 



168 THE .GLORIOUS VICTORY, 

sion. j. on ..now we can in imagination, even 
enter into the king's palace, so in the same 
way, no bolts or bars can keep ns ont of the 
rich man's dwelling. We will pass by all 
these richly-furnished rooms. We will not 
even pause to look at those rich pictures in 
the gallery. We will go into his chamber, 
and see the rich man himself. 

There he is, upon his bed, for he is sick, 
even unto death. I know that it is hard to 
look upon the sick and suffering, and more es- 
pecially when they have no hope in Christ. 
He has every thing to make him comfortable, 
but his eye seems to be fixed in anxious ex- 
pectation upon the door, as if he was looking 
for some one to enter. It is his faithful pas- 
tor who has come, and the dying man says to 
him, " O, sir, I cannot die ; 1 cannot die. I 
have no hope for the future ; what must I do 
to be saved '?" The good man tells him of the 
Saviour, who died for him, and who has taken 
away the sting of Death — a Saviour whose 
blood cleanseth from all sin ; and then urges 
him to go to Christ, as his Saviour. But the 
dying man answers, " It is too late. I have 



TIE GLORIOUS VIC TOE Y 160 

spent my life in sin and folly. ~ Lave blas- 
phemed the name of Jesus. I have oppressed 
the poor, and taken advantage of the needy. 
I am lost ! I am lost ! there is no hope for me. 
Death is coming ; O for another day — another 
hour." But it could not be. He had given 
himself to sin in his life, and now Death 
gains the victory over him. The sting of 
Death is sin. 

But now come with me from the country to 
the city. We must leave the green fields and 
the flowers behind us. It is a short walk by 
night that I wish you to take with me, but 
not through the crowded streets where the 
light from so many windows makes it almost 
as bright as day. Do you see that little dark 
alley, so damp and dark that the few lights 
seem afraid to shine. Do not fear, although 
you hear the sounds of horrid revelry. It is 
a wicked spot. Keep close to me and no evil 
shall befall you as we go up these crazy steps. 
Another flight, another flight, and yet an- 
other. Here is the room to which I would 
conduct you. "What a gloomy place. JTo 
fire on the hearth, although it is bitter cold, 



170 THE GLORIOUS YICTOET. 

and only one sickly light, which hardly re- 
lieves the darkness. Hark ! do you not hear 
music almost as sweet as the song of the an- 
gels ? Look around, and see if you can dis- 
cover whence it comes. See, something 
moves in yonder corner. Let us see what it 
is. There is only a bundle of straw and a 
thin, ragged cover. Hold down the light. 
See that face — the traces of suffering are still 
upon it. The little sufferer has known want. 
He, too, like the rich man, is dying. His 
eyes are closed, but a sweet smile flits across 
his countenance, just like the playing of a 
sunbeam upon a marble statue. His dreams 
must be pleasant. Shall we awake him \ 
Speak his name softly — " Johnny ! Johnny 1" 
His eyes open — large, deep blue eyes. " Why 
did you smile so sweetly in your sleep, John- 
ny ?" " O, sir, I had such a beautiful dream, 
and I thought it was not all a dream. 

" I thought I saw a beautiful city. It was 
all shining with light, and yet there was no 
sun. There were a great many people in its 
streets, but they all looked so happy. The} r 
had white robes, and harps in their hands. 



1'IE GIOEIOTIS TICTOEY. 171 

But what made me feel so happy was, that I 
thought 1 heard the Saviour say, i Go, and 
bring Johnny home' — and you awoke me 
just as they were coming." 

Shall I tell the poor boy that he is dying % 
" Johnny, do you know that you have only a 
few hours to live V " O, yes, sir," he answers, 
" but I am not afraid to die. Just raise up 
my head a little, if you please. Thank you, 
sir, that will do." " "Why are you not afraid 
to die?" "Jesus has died for me, sir." "Where 
did you learn that ?" " In the Sabbath school, 
sir. Please sing to me that beautiful hymn, 
6 We're homeward bound ' " — and as we sing 
he says, " They're coming ; they're coming ; 
I knew it was not a dream. Good-by, sir; 
I'm going home." And little Johnny was 
dead. 

I believe that all he saw was just as real 
as the vision which Stephen, the first martyr, 
had. 

Both of these stories are true, children. I 
have, told them to you in my own words, but 
they are what happens every day. Some die 
happy, like little Johnny^ and some die in 



172 THE GLORIOUS VICTORY. 

fearful agony, like the rich man. Shall I tell 
you what makes the difference ? Some have 
Christ for their Saviour ; their sins have been 
washed away with His blood, and to them, 
dying is bnt going home, to be forever with 
the Lord. "While others reject Christ, and so 
Death comes as an enemy, and in the fearful 
strife he is the conqueror ; they feel his dart 
and sting just as keenly as if Christ had not 
died. 

Now, then, if you would gain the victory 
over Death, you must, while you have health 
and strength, in the days of your youth, go to 
Jesus, and choose Him for your Saviour. 
Then, should you live to old age, or die in 
youth, you will be able to say, with your last 
breath, " Thanks be unto God, who giveth us 
the victory." 

But now I must tell you, in the second 
place, about 

II. The song which the victors sing. 

I have told you of the great rejoicing tnere 
is when a nation has gained a great victory. 

When the children of Israel passed through 
the Red Sea, and their enemies attempting to 



THE GLOKIOUS VICTOET. 173 

follow thein, perished in the water, Miriam, 
the sister of Moses, led the congregation of 
Israel in a song of rejoicing — -thanking God 
for the great overthrow of their enemies. 
'None of the Israelites were lost in the sea : 
none of them had to mourn while the others 
were rejoicing, because the victory had cost, 
them some near and dear friend. The victor's 
song that we wonld speak about, is one of the 
same kind. There was a time when only one 
in heaven could sing that song, for strange as 
it may seem to yon, children, angels and arch- 
angels cannot join in it. "When the redeemed 
begin to sing the song of salvation, all the rest 
in heaven panse to listen. 

But I was saying there was a time when 
only one in heaven conld sing the victor's 
song — that was Abel. He stooped solitary 
and alone before the throne to sing of redeem- 
ing love. But others, and others, and others, 
were added, and now it is a great company, 
which no man can number, who make the 
high vault of heaven ring, as they raise their 
voices, saying — for this is the victor's song — ■ 
" Worthy is the Lamb, which was slain, to re- 



174 TIIE GLORIOUS VICTORY 

ceive power, and riches, and glory, for He 
hath redeemed us with His blood, and made 
us kings and priests to our God." 

it is a sweet song. Let me ask you, chil- 
dren, shall you and I sing that song together, 
before the throne of God ? 

But now let me tell you in the last place 
III. What robes the victors shall wear. 
When I was in Canada, some years ago, I 
noticed a great many soldiers there, and the 
most of them displayed a silver medal, attach- 
ed to a blue ribbon. They seemed to be very 
proud of that badge, and the people, too, 
seemed to be proud to have such soldiers 
among them. 

1 asked, one of them why he and his com- 
panions wore the medals, and lie answered 
me thus : " We have been in the Crimean 
war, sir, and the Sultan of Turkey lias given 
us this as a mark of his appreciation of our 
services." It was the badge of a victor. 

But how shall I describe to you the badge 
which the heavenly conquerors wear ? I could 
not tell you anything about it had I not read 
of a man who was permitted to behold these 



THE GLORIOUS VICTO $ Y . 175 

victors in the glorious garments which they 
wear. He tell us that they are clothed in 
white roles, and have palms of victory in their 
hands. Crowns, too, are upon their brows, 
for they are kings as well as conquerors. 
Some of these crowns are weighty with jewels 
of priceless value. For those who have turn- 
ed many to righteousness, have jeweled crowns 
given unto them. For every soul they saved 
there is a jewel, which sparkles like a star of 
the first magnitude. 

Kow, children, would you be one of these 
glorious victors ; thus to reign and live with 
Christ ? Then you must begin now, to fight 
the good fight of faith. Then we shall soon 
enter that city, and join in that worship where 

" Sweetest strains, from soft harps stealing, 
Trumpet notes, of trumpets pealing, 
Radiant wings and white stoles gleaming, 
Up the steps of glory streaming, 
Where the heavenly bells are ringing 
Holy, holy, holy ! singing 

To the mighty Trinity ; 
Holy, hoi y, holy, crying, 
For all earthly care and sighing, 

In that city cease to be." 



&[j£ parting ^xamht 



John xiv. 2-4. *' I go to prepare a place for you, 
and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come 
again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am 
there ye may be also ; and whither I go ye know, and 
the way ye knoic" 

i WISH, children, to take a long journey 
with you to-day ; that is, if you would 
like to go with me so far from home. It 
is one of those journeys which we can 
take, and yet never leave our places. I 
am not a very old man yet, and still I 
have been all over the world. I have stood 
on Mount Sinai, where God once came down 
to give His law to the children of Israel, and 
have looked upon the great waste, howling 



THE PARTING PROMISE. 177 

wilderness all around. I have journeyed 
through the desert, and walked up Mount Ne- 
bo, from which Moses saw the Land of Pro- 
mise. I have seen the Jordan, and the place 
where Jericho once stood. I have walked all 
over that pleasant land, its green valleys and 
vine-clad hills. I have seen the palace of Sol- 
omon, whose magnificence the Queen of She- 
ba admired so much, and the beautiful tem- 
ple, which from porch to altar was one blaze 
of splendor. I have walked with Christ to 
Bethany, and come back with Him, too, over 
the Mount of Olives. I have been with Him. 
in the gloomy garden of Gethsemane and in 
the judgment hall of Pilate. I have walked 
with Him through the streets of Jerusalem 
when He was going to Calvary to be cruci- 
fied. I have stood beside His cross, and have 
seen the cruel soldiers driving the nails into 
His hands and feet, and I have watched there 
till He bowed His head, saying, " It is finish- 
ed." Why, children, I have been over all the 
world, but I will not tell you about my trav- 
els to-day. I have learned a secret, and I 
will tell it to you, for once in a while I like 



ITS TIIE PARTING PB0MI8I. 

company in my travels. You have all read 
Fairy Tales : those strange little creatures 
you read about seem to have the power (that 
is, if you believe the stories) of being just 
where they want to be. I have learned how 
they do it. It is by the imagination. When 
you read a book of travels, just try and think 
that you really see the places described, and 
it is almost the same thing as being there. 
This is the way I do most of my travelling ; 
just imagine myself where I want to be. It 
is a journey like this, that I wish you to take 
with me to-day. We will cross the ocean, for 
there is something there I would like you to 
see. 

]STow, are you all ready to go ? Well, here 
we are in New York already. We have not 
time to look at any thing, so we will go on. 
Here is a good ship that will answer our pur- 
pose. We are all on board. The sails are 
unfurled, and away we go. The land is lost 
to view already. It is the great ocean that 
is all around us. A beautiful day on the 
ocean ; nothing but a gentle swell, which you 
hardly feel. Here and there you can see a 



T1IE PASTING PEOMISE. 17£ 

white sail, or the smoke from one of those 
great ships which waits neither for winds nor 
waves. It is blue sky above ; blue water be- 
neath But do you see those white cliffs? 
That is the shore • of England, and we are al- 
most at our journey's end. Here we are on 
British soil at last. We will go away now, 
over the mountains and glens, and we will 
stop at that little cottage there. Do you 
see it, almost covered with honeysuckles ? — a 
sweet little home. I am sure we will find- a 
pleasant family within. An Englishman calls 
his home his castle ; the Queen herself has no 
right to enter without knocking, but we will 
go in at once, for we are privileged charac- 
ters. There is the father and mother and six 
little ones, but they all look sad. I wonder 
what is the matter ; well, let us listen — they 
will tell their own story. The father is speak- 
ing : " Yes," he says, " yes, children, I must 
go and seek a new home for you, and when it 
is all prepared, I will either come again, or 
send some one for you, and then we will all 
be so happy again, in our new home." Do 
you wonder that the children should cry, and 



180 THE P A S 7 I N O P E O M I S B. 

that they should ask so anxiously, " But where- 
are you going, father?" It is not at all 
strange — it would he if it were otherwise — 
and he tells them that he is going across the 
ocean, to America; a strange, far-off land, 
which they have never seen. And now for a 
few weeks they are all busy, making prepara- 
tions for father's departure ; and the day of 
separation comes too soon. We will go with 
them to the ship : how tenderly does he bid 
them adieu, and what words of comfort does 
he speak, trying to hide the big tears which 
will come into his eyes, whether or no. " It 
is only for a little while, children ; you know 
where I am going, and you know the way, 
for we have talked it all over. I would not 
leave you, but it is necessary that I should go 
away. Think of me when I am gone, read 
the letters I send you, and be always ready, 
so that you may come when I send for you ; 
farewell, farewell till then." And now he 
steps upon the ship ;. it is already moving ; 
and we will go with him, for I do not wish 
any of you left in a strange land. See them 
watching there on the shore, and waving their 



PARTING- x^KOMlaE. 181 

adieus as long as they can see their father.. 
And oh how wistfully he looks back, as the 
land recedes from view, till at last it appears- 
only like a cloud on the horizon. Well, it is 
sometimes a long passage to cross the ocean 
in a sailing vessel ; sometimes the wind die3 
away so that the ocean is almost like a great 
mirror ; sometimes it blows a perfect gale, so 
that they have to reef the sails, and then the 
ship reels and staggers like a drunken man — 
tossed on the summit of this wave, and now 
on that ; then the wind blows from the wrong 
quarter, and they have to sail this way and 
that, going several miles to advance one 
towards their desired haven ; but you can see 
that in fair weather or foul, that father is ever 
thinking of the loved ones he left behind. 
All rejoice when they hear the cry of " Land, 
Ho !" but none more than the man who has 
gone to find a home for his children. And 
now we are back once more at New York, 
and our fellow passenger with us. "Well, we 
will follow him now. He has heard of the 
far-famed prairies of the "West, where the land 
is rich and to be had almost for the asking, 



182 THE PARTING- PROMISE. 

:and hither he directs his steps. Here is land 
:for sale, and here he makes his purchase. Dil- 
igently he goes to work breaking np the soil, 
'which had remained undisturbed since the 
imorning of creation, and then he begins to 
build a home — a home for his wife and chil- ' 
'dren. Months pass away. They have heard 
often from him, and he has heard from them. 
At last he writes telling them to come, that 
the new home is ready for them ; he cannot 
come after them, but they know the way, for 
he has told them all about it, and he will 
meet them just as soon as they land, to con- 
duct them to their new home. What a joy- 
ful letter that is for those children — they had 
never called the old cottage home since fath- 
er left, but every day spoke about their new 
home which father had gone to prepare. It 
is hard for them to bid their neighbors and 
friends farewell, but this pain of parting is al- 
most forgotten in the great joy of being so 
soon with their father. They stand now on 
the deck of the vessel, they see the land grow- 
ing more and more indistinct ; they fear as 
they see the blue, cold water all around them, 



THE PASTING PROMISE. 183 

biit they forget their fears as they remember 
that they are going home. And who can de- 
scribe their joy when all dangers are past, as 
they meet their dear father in the new land. 
What a happy night is the first they spend in 
their new home. And how it adds to their 
happiness to be told by their father, " Dear 
children, we will never have to leave this 
home ; it is ours, and no man can take it from 
us. Have I not fulfilled the promise I made 
you when I left you, that I would send for 
you; that where I am, there ye may be 
also?" 

Well, children, are we not getting to be fa- 
mous travellers ? We have been to England 
and back again twice, all in about ten min- 
utes, and you have not even left your places. 
But I know you are all wondering what this 
has to do with my text, and how I am going 
to make it part of a sermon. Let us read the 
text again : " I go to prepare a place for you, 
and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will 
come again and receive you to Myself, that 
where I am, there ye maybe also, and whither 
I go ye know, and the way ye know." Well, 



184 THE PARTING PROMISE. 

I have told you all this to try and illustrate 
my text. I know, if you have paid attention, 
that you understand all I said about that fath- 
er and his family. He went away to prepare 
a home for his children, and then he sent for 
them. You know how precious such a pro- 
mise would be to you, if you were one of the 
children of that family ; and yet my text is a 
far more precious promise, and a promise for 
you and for me, if we will only make it ours. 
Yes, children, it is a promise which has 
been fulfilled to more than one since I last 
preached to you, who are not here to day and 
never will be. You know that there is a va- 
cant place in the Sabbath school, a seat in one 
class empty. Some months ago, a message 
from Christ came into a family, and said to 
one of their number, " Be ready, I am coming 
to take you to the home which I have prepar- 
ed." And we tried, by reading the letter 
which Christ sent to her about the way, to 
help her in making her preparations. And 
then we told her about the beautiful home to 
which she was going, and tried to calm her 
fears, till we had to bid her adieu, as she 



THE PASTING PROMISE. 185 

went forth on that ocean where we could not 
follow ; that ocean which washes the shores of 
eternity. 

Do you understand me, children ? The mes- 
senger which Christ sent was sickness ; the 
stormy ocean which we can only pass over 
once, and that, too, all alone, so far as human 
friends are concerned, was death, and we have 
a good hope that to-day, while we are still 
here, she is in that glorious home with Christ ; 
or in other words, that this promise in our 
text has been fulfilled, " I will come again 
and receive you unto Myself, and where I am 
there ye may be also." 

JS r ow, if the remembrance of this will not 
make you serious and thoughtful, I know not 
what will. I might tell you a thousand times 
that you must die, and yet it might make but 
little impression upon you. You might say, 
" I am young ; death is far off; time enough 
to prepare for that ;" but now what can you 
answer, when death has come into your own 
circle, and taken one as young as you all ? 
Just ask yourself, "Had it been 7, could I have 
felt this sweet text mine, and that I was go- 



186 TIIE PARTING PROMISE. 

mg to bo forever with the Saviour !" And 
what is the answer that your own heart gives 
to the solemn question % Oh how I wish you 
would all try and answer that question, for I 
do begin to fear that some of you may live 
and die without coming to the Saviour. Now 
remember that I am not here to-day to amuse 
you, or merely to instruct you. I come to- 
day as a messenger sent from Christ, to tell 
you of that other messenger who is coming, 
and to entreat you to be prepared for his com- 
ing. I am sent to tell you how the promise 
may be yours, and to induce you, if possible, 
to begin this very day to prepare for heaven. 
Now, that you may understand this text fully, 
I will first tell you 

I. When and by whom these words were 
spoken. 

II. "Where Christ was going. 

III. How He fulfilled the promise. 
IY. How you may make it yours. 

First, then, I am to tell you who spake 
these words, and when they were spoken. 

Go with me now, children, to Jerusalem, 
that beautiful city which for many years was 



THE PARTING PROMISE. 1ST 

tlie joy Ox the whole earth. We will enter 
this lowly dwelling, for here is the guest 
chamber where Christ has gone to eat the 
Passover with His disciples. There is Christ 
Himself at the table, and John, the disciple 
whom Jesus loved, leaning on His breast. 
One of the disciples is not here — Judas has 
gone out to betray his Lord for thirty pieces 
of silver. Do you not see that they are all 
looking very sad, just as men do when they 
have heard bad news ? Do you ask what is 
the matter ? Christ has just told them that 
He was going away to leave them, and they 
are very sorrowful, for they did love Christ, 
and it makes them sad to know that they arc 
to be separated from Him, even for a little 
while ; and now He begins to comfort them. 
Hear hew beautifully and touchingly He 
speaks : " Let not your hearts be troubled ; ye 
believe in God, believe also in me ; in My 
Father's house are many mansions; if it were 
not so, I would have told you ; I go to prepare 
a place for you, and if 1 go away, I will come 
again, and receive you unto Myself, that 
where I am, there*ye may be also." You see 



188 THE PARTING PEOMISE. 

it is just, like 1I1 5 way that lather talked to 
his children ; almost the very same language. 
Now you know, children, what followed on 
the morrow. Christ was crucified. Before 
another day was ended, lie hung lifeless upon 
the accursed tree. But He knew it all, and 
He did not fear death. He died that He 
might take away the sting of death, that 
death instead of being the King of Terrors to 
us, might be a messenger whom Christ would 
send to take His own people home. Now 
was it not kind of Christ to speak so comfort- 
ingly to His disciples when His own soul was 
sorrowful even unto death? Aye, and He 
thought then not merely of the few disciples 
who were with Him, but of you and me, if 
we are His. And now let me tell you some- 
thing : 

II. Where Christ was going. 

For a few Sabbaths I have been preaching 
about heaven, and I will tell you why : be- 
cause so many of our friends have, as we hope, 
been called there. I love sometimes to think 
over those who expect to meet in heaven. 
There are more than one of |he Sabbath school 



THE PARTING PROMISE. 189 

scholars who once belonged to this school, 
there. Some of them died so peacefully, so 
happy, that it did not seem like dying at all, 
and do you know, children, I have a strange 
fancy that when I die and the angels come to 
take me home, that I will meet them at the 
golden gate of the city, and that they will 
take me to Jesus, that He may Welcome me 
to my new home, and that with them I shall 
walk through all those shining streets. They 
will show me where the river of life is, and 
the tree which bears twelve manner of fruits. 
They will talk of the instruction they received 
in the Sabbath school, and in the Sanctuary 
here, and then we will wait together for the 
other friends who are coming after us. I 
know that they are always happy in heaven, 
but I think it is a peculiarly joyful day when 
we are weeping here because some friend has 
passed away from earth, because they have 
met to part no more in heaven. But I am 
forgetting I commenced to tell you where 
Christ was going — to His own home in heaven. 
I preached to you once from the second verse 
of this chapter : " In my Father's house are 
fo 



lDO THE PARTING PROMISE. 

many mansions." Do you remember it ? I 
told you then of the golden walls and pearly 
gates. I told you of the throne of God, and 
of the Lamb. Christ had lived there from all 
eternity, and then He came to this earth for 
a very few years, and said to His disciples, " I 
have finished my work here, now I am going 
to My home ; do not weep, rather rejoice, for 
it is a glorious home ; no sin, no sorrow, no 
suffering there. I will not forget you, I will 
come again and receive you unto Myself, that 
where I am, there ye may be also." And now 
let me tell you 

III. How Christ has fulfilled this promise. 

You know that the Apostle John wrote this 
part of the Bible, and he lived till all the 
other apostles were dead. It seemed almost 
as though Christ had forgotten John. He 
had sent for Paul, and Peter, Andrew, and 
Thomas, and all the rest but John. He heard 
about this, and yet no message came for him. 
But Christ came to him in a beautiful vision. 
The whole of the last book in the Bible is 
about it. He saw the Saviour in His home 
in glory. He saw Stephen and Simeon — some 



THE PARTING PEOMISE. 191 

of his own children in the Gospel, and all hig 
fellow laborers there. And I have always 
thought that John must have been very im- 
patient after that vision to get away from this 
world, and yet he did wait patiently till he 
was almost a hundred years old, and even 
when he was so infirm that he could not walk 
to church, he desired to be carried there, when 
the only message he could deliver was, " Lit- 
tle children, love one another." But at last 
John's time came; he had- never thought for 
a moment that he was forgotten; and the 
promise of Christ was fulfilled to all the apos- 
tles. The twelve apostles of the Lamb were 
with Him in glory. But do you say, " Ah, 
then if the promise has been fulfilled it can- 
not be for us ?" But this is not so. It was 
left here for all who would be Christ's disci- 
ples, down even to the end of time. So that 
it will not be fulfilled till the whole Church of 
God are safe in heaven, and we think that 
that will be many years hence. But so far as 
individuals are concerned, He is fulfilling His 
promise every day ; for there is not a single 
iay passes but what He comes and takes some 
f6 



192 THE PARTING PE0MI8E. 

of His people to be with Himself. .Let me tell 
you how He took a little girl home. She had 
only been in this world nine short years ; she 
was a lovely child, and was early prepared 
for heaven, and then she began to fade away 
from earth. In her sickness, she said to one 
of the family, " When I am dead, I wish my 
pastor might preach a sermon to the children, 
to persuade them to love Jesus, to obey their 
parents, and think more about heaven. I 
have been thinking I should like to have 
him preach from the text about the prophet 
Elisha and the child of the Shumanite : ' Is it 
well with the child, and she answered, It is 
well.' The prophet will come to see you after 
I am gone, and when he says, ' How is it with 
the child?' you may say, 'It is well.' I am 
sure it will be well with me then, for I shall 
be in heaven, singing the praises of the Lord." 
Think you that that child did not feel that 
the promise was all hers, that Christ was com- 
ing to take her to be with Himself? And so 
many, many more, as young as you are. 

And I am now to tell you in the fourth and 
last place : 



THE PARTING PROMISE. VJb 

TV. How you may make this promise 
yours. 

And first, you must get a title to heaven. 
A title to heaven — do you ask what is a title ? 
If your father wished to purchase a house, be- 
fore he paid the money he would examine the 
right which the man had to the property — 
that is, the title ; so that he might know 
whether it really belonged to the man, or not ; 
if he found the title all right, he would then 
pay the money, and the title would then be 
transferred to him. Now, you need to get a 
title to one of the mansions in heaven, before 
you can say that it is yours ; and where, think 
you, can you get that title ? where shall money 
enough be found to purchase it ? You must 
go to Him who owns heaven and all its glory 
■ — and I have glorious news to tell you — He 
gives away these titles, asks nothing for them, 
but only to come and take them freely, freely, 
without money and without price. Heaven 
belorjgsto Jesus. He purchased it for lis with 
His own blood. And now will you go to Him 
to-day? tor He invites yon to come, and as- 
sures you that if you come iiu\v, that He will 



-J^ THE PARTING PROMISE. 

give you what you ask ; and where do yon 
think He will write it ? upon your heart, so 
that it can never be lost. 

But again, secondly, you must get clean 
hearts to fit you for heaven. How ashamed 
you would be to go to some great feast with 
soiled garments ! but you know that heaven 
is sometimes represented as the marriage sup- 
per of the Lamb ; and the company are cloth- 
ed with fine linen, clean and white ; for the 
fine linen is the righteousness of the saints: 
but our hearts are all deliled by sin. How 
ashamed we would feel in heaven with our 
hearts just as they now are ! Now we must; 
go to Cln-ist, and have Him cleanse them. 
His blood was shed for this ; and oh it makes 
the vilest clean. His blood availed for me. 

And then, lastly, you must follow the di- 
rections which He has given you, and thus be 
journeying towards heaven, till He meets you 
on the way. This is His letter to you ; read 
it everyday; follow its directions, and so will 
you be saved from sin and sorrow here, and 
irum eternal misery hereafter. 

oS'ow. children, will you do this, so that tho 



THE PARTING PROMISE. 195 

promise of the text may he yours ? Y ou have 
but a little while to live in the world. Soon 
death will come, hut it will then have no ter- 
rors for you : Christ will come and meet you 
and take you to His home. 



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